Antonio Giovinazzi needs “a further step” to be considered for a future Ferrari seat, Mattia Binotto says.
The Italian finally got his first full-time chance in Formula 1 in 2019 but it wasn’t until the second half of the season when his performances began to improve.
Indeed, some might consider Giovinazzi lucky not to have been replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for next year having only scored 14 points to teammate Kimi Raikkonen’s 43.
So when Binotto was asked about his prospects of joining Ferrari in 2021, you might be surprised by his answer.
“At the moment it is too early to talk about it,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We had a positive discussion with him because he did show signs of growth throughout the year and remember it was two years since he competed.
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“In the second part of the season, he was often very close to or ahead of Raikkonen and I believe that the mistakes or difficulties he had in races at the beginning of the season very slowly went away. So he’s growing.
“Antonio can be a Ferrari driver, but let’s see how he develops again in 2020,” Binotto added. “But if I have to judge only on 2019, then no [he is not ready]. We need to see a further step.”
Instead of thinking about the Scuderia, the more likely story will be whether Giovinazzi remains at Alfa Romeo for 2021, particularly with Mick Schumacher competing in his second year of F2.
The German is under pressure to improve after a so-so first year in the feeder series yet a promotion to F1 is almost seen as inevitable.
“Will he be a good candidate for Ferrari? It’s really too early to say that,” Binotto commented. “For 2021 it will be important to have drivers with experience because the cars will be completely new.
“But I am pretty sure that he is a good candidate for Formula 1. We expect a lot from him next year.”
