25/09/2021
NEWS STORY
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN endured a difficult afternoon in Sochi, with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi qualifying in 16th and 18th respectively for tomorrow's Grand Prix. On a wet circuit after heavy rain drenched the venue for the majority of the day - to the point that the final practice session had to be cancelled - the drivers tip-toed around on intermediate tyres, but couldn't clear Q1.
Kimi and Antonio will gain places due to penalties to other drivers and will aim to make up places in the race.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We were very close to a place in Q2 with Kimi but unfortunately, we missed out. The cancellation of FP3 meant we went straight into qualifying. We were on intermediate tyres, like all our rivals, but in the end we missed just that little bit more to make it past the first segment of qualifying. We'll see what the weather looks like tomorrow: we have a long race ahead of us and hopefully we can make up some ground towards the top ten."
Kimi Raikkonen: "The conditions weren't too bad out there but we lacked a bit of grip. The balance of the car was ok, but we were just on the edge all the time - and when that goes over the limit, it goes quickly. The more lap we did the better it got, but in the end we just couldn't get more out of it. We'll try our best tomorrow and see where we can end up."
Antonio Giovinazzi: "A disappointing day in which we couldn't express all our potential. I had an issue with the brakes that made it difficult to drive, especially in the wet and not having run FP3. We need to understand what happened and fix it to have a better day tomorrow. We'll need to see what weather we're going to have and focus on our job. We will have faster cars around us, starting from the back, we will need to stay out of trouble and see how we can progress."