Formula 1: Antonio Giovinazzi pulls off huge achievement
By Asher Fair
Antonio Giovinazzi’s performance in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix made him the first driver among Formula 1’s slowest three teams to score in 2021.
After the 2021 Formula 1 season’s second race in Imola, 13 of the 20 drivers competing in the sport had scored points in at least one event. Those 13 drivers represent seven of the sport’s 10 teams.
Those same 13 drivers were the only 13 drivers who had scored any points through the season’s first four races as Formula 1 headed to Circuit de Monaco for this past Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
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Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was the outlier, as he was the only driver among those seven teams who had not scored any points in those four races.
The other six all drive for one of three teams: Alfa Romeo, Williams or Haas.
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Vettel scored his first points of the season and of his Aston Martin tenure in Sunday’s 78-lap race around the 19-turn, 2.074-mile (3.338-kilometer) temporary street circuit in Monte Carlo, Monaco with an impressive fifth place effort, ending a seven-race scoring drought that went back to last season.
Vettel’s performance made this race the first race since the season’s second event to see a new driver score this year. And he wasn’t the only new driver to score.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovianzzi joined him to become the first driver from Alfa Romeo, Williams or Haas to score any points in 2021.
This is particularly significant because of the focus that each of these three teams have already placed on the 2022 season, effectively writing off the 2021 season.
Giovinazzi advanced to Q3 for the first time this year and qualified in 10th place. He started on the fifth row in ninth after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was slated to start the race from the pole position, did not start due to mechanical issues.
He finished in 10th place to score his and the team’s first point of the year.
Alfa Romeo did originally score two points in Imola with a ninth place effort from Kimi Raikkonen, but a post-race penalty removed those two points from both the team total and the driver total.
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Will any other drivers from Alfa Romeo, Williams or Haas score points this season, or will Giovinazzi be the only one? The season’s sixth race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 6, and it is set to be broadcast live from Baku City Circuit on ESPN beginning at 8:00 a.m. ET.