Alfa Romeo Racing‘s Antonio Giovinazzi says that getting into Qualifying 2 at the Bahrain Grand Prix would have been “very important” for both him and the team.
Giovinazzi was knocked out in the first stage of qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit by just six-hundredths of a second, while team-mate Kimi Räikkönen will start from eighth on the grid.
The Italian, who starts sixteenth, lamented a difficult weekend for him and the team, with Alfa Romeo’s running in Friday’s Free Practice sessions severely disrupted with water leaks on both cars.
Giovinazzi believes that following Räikkönen into Qualifying 2 would have provided a welcome measurement of Alfa Romeo’s pace in Bahrain.
“It has not been an easy weekend until now,” Giovinazzi said.
“The second session would have been very important for us yesterday to see where we will stand in qualifying and the race.”
He added that he has little idea on what could happen in Sunday’s race, in conditions very different to those experience in Free Practices 1 and 3 – where the bulk of Giovinazzi’s running took place.
However, Giovinazzi did express some form of optimism, hoping that Alfa Romeo has the requisite pace to move forward through a very congested and well-matched midfield pack.
“We don’t really know what to expect from the race tomorrow,” he added.
“The conditions will be quite different to what we experienced in FP1 and FP3, so we will do our best to have a good race and fight our way forward in this tight midfield.”
