Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur refuses to hold driver Antonio Giovinazzi responsible for costing team points after failing to follow the team’s instructions at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Giovinazzi was told twice to allow his teammate Kimi Raikkonen to overtake him in the final stages of the race but declined. Raikkonen drove several seconds faster than his teammate before catching up with him and although Giovinazzi increased his pace he was lagging behind Raikkonen’s lap times.
Giovinazzi finished the race seven tenths of a second ahead of Esteban Ocon, who scored the last point. Vasseur admitted the team had missed a chance to score points because Raikkonen was stuck behind his teammate.
However, he was reluctant to hold Giovinazzi responsible for costing the team their fifth point result of the season. It is difficult for drivers to assess how far they can drive their intermediate tires on a drying track.
“Turkey was a tough race for the strategists and for the drivers to know exactly what the right push is,” he said.
The Alfa Romeo drivers were advised to protect their tires, especially in the high-speed left-hand corner.
“We tried to save the tires and made huge savings at turn eight,” said Vasseur. “And at some point Kimi pushed a lot more and saw that we could keep the tires [alive]. “
Giovinazzi was told to “swap positions with Kimi at the back of turn one, he’s much faster now” while Raikkonen was told “we will swap positions in turn one”. Giovinazzi, however, never followed the instruction.
“We asked Antonio to either push him or let him go,” said Raikkonen. “He was probably too conservative, but I don’t want to blame him.
“We had the discussion. He was a bit lost with the amount of attacks he has to make [in the tyres]. Sure they could be much faster and he was too conservative. “
Even after Giovinazzi had accelerated his pace, Raikkonen stayed close behind him. “We clearly lost the points but I don’t want to blame Antonio,” said Vasseur. “We had the discussion, I think he stuck to the plan and when we had the window of opportunity to push more, it took him two or three laps to understand that he could push more and it is what it is. “
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