'Important' to regain confidence after China crash - Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi feels it was "important" to regain confidence after crashing out of his second Formula 1 race in China earlier this year, having recently completed a successful FP1 run with Haas at the British Grand Prix.

Ferrari reserve Giovinazzi was drafted in by Sauber to replace the injured Pascal Wehrlein for the first two races of the season, but crashed out in both qualifying and the race in China during a tough weekend.

The Italian has since enjoyed a test with Ferrari and most recently appeared for Haas at Silverstone in FP1, starting a programme that will see him feature six more times between now and the end of the season.

Speaking after his Silverstone run-out, Giovinazzi said he was happy to learn from his miserable China weekend, having since regained the confidence lost during the crashes.

"My rules were to be third driver for Ferrari and then in Australia I had the opportunity on Saturday to jump in the [Sauber] car straightaway," Giovinazzi said.

"I didn't know the track and didn't know quite well the car. But it was really good debut I think, especially in qualy but also in the race.

"And then in China I was completely opposite. It was a really bad weekend for me. But then for a rookie and for a young driver, it's important to learn from mistakes, so I think I learned from what I got from Australia but also what I got from China.

"What's important is to learn, and to learn better is to come back in the car, do laps and take back the confidence because if the last time you were in the car you crashed, you are not in the car any more, it's really hard.

"To come back and take confidence back is really important."

2016 GP2 runner-up Giovinazzi has been linked with a move up to a Haas F1 race seat for 2018, but the Italian is under no illusions about the challenge he faces to make the step up full-time next year.

"To go in F1 is really hard. There are not many seats," Giovinazzi said.

"There are only 20 seats in the world, so it's really hard. It's not like football.

"But it's just my first season in Ferrari. They are really good. I trust them, so they know what they can do for me. Now it's just time to focus on what they give me this year with seven FP1s, and then we'll see what happens next year.

"Anything can happen, so I hope I can find a seat for next year."