Giovinazzi hopes Monaco F1 knowledge will yield "better" FE weekend

Since leaving the Alfa Romeo F1 squad to join Dragon Penske Autosport, Giovinazzi has found Formula E a persistent challenge, particularly in terms of gaining confidence in terms of braking.

As a result, he has yet to score a point in his maiden season in the championship, although he has been gradually improving in qualifying and closing in on team-mate Sergio Sette Camara as the Dragon proves to be a difficult car to drive.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Monaco E-Prix, Giovinazzi says that his prior knowledge of the Monaco circuit - which moved to the full-length layout last season and now uses the F1-spec Nouvelle Chicane on the harbour-front - means that having just one day in the car will be less of a disadvantage.

However, the caveat is that he will take to the track in a different car, which he explains has completely differing reference points for braking.

"It's better that I know it, and for sure it's good for the format that we have tomorrow everything to one day," Giovinazzi told Motorsport.com.

"The things that I know about the track will help me for sure. But of course, I drove in the track with a different car, so all the braking points, all the references that I go to will be completely different.

"But at least I know the track and I've been in the car at least two weeks ago, so it will be better for sure."

Antonio Giovinazzi at the launch of Formula E's Gen3 car

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Giovinazzi continues to conduct reserve and simulator work for Ferrari, dovetailing his Australian Grand Prix reserve role with getting on top of the Dragon Formula E package.

He says that he has been continuing to work on Dragon's simulator to improve his energy management within a race, but warned that the simulator is currently not entirely close to the real car.

"I spent quite a lot of days because in the end, you know, it's the only thing that I can do to be honest. But the sim has been not really close to the real car.

"So for me this is also another thing that I'm struggling more with. We tried a lot of energy saving and all of this but in terms of you know, confidence and everything is really hard to say.

"The only fix to improve is when I'm in the car tomorrow; hopefully again, I get to do a lot of laps try to not do a mistake and I need to learn from that.

Having spoken to a fellow F1 to Formula E convert in Jean-Eric Vergne, Giovinazzi said that the Frenchman had told him that the Monaco circuit is "scarier" in an FE car despite the lower power, as the cars have significantly less downforce than their F1 counterparts.

"There's no downforce here, so you cannot carry the same speed that I am used to carrying.

"I spoke with JEV before and he said that he looked more scary to drive this car on this track than in F1. So we'll see what happens."