Frédéric Vasseur says this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix will ask a lot from everyone within the Alfa Romeo Racing squad, but he insists everyone is ready for the challenge.
Vasseur, the Team Principal at Alfa Romeo, says the team has been able to be competitive everywhere they go, and this weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit should be no exception, with a two-car points finish for Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi the ultimate aim.
Räikkönen has shown good pace throughout the last two events, particularly in Qualifying, but has missed out on points in both Spa-Francorchamps and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza as a result of crashes. One of the crashes was not his fault – he was hit by Max Verstappen at turn one in Belgium – but he was at fault for his Parabolica crash in Q3 in Italy that resulted in a pit lane start.
Giovinazzi on the other hand has been slowly improving and drove a strong Italian Grand Prix to score only his second top ten result of the season in ninth, and Vasseur admits that he needs the Italian and his Finnish team-mate to be in the points if they are to improve on their current eighth place standing in the Constructors’ Championship.
“Singapore is a weekend that asks a lot from everyone in the team,” said Vasseur. “The humidity, the heat, the weird times – it’s a tough weekend but our team is ready for the challenge.
“We have shown we can be competitive everywhere we go and there is no reason we shouldn’t be in the mix this weekend, but we will need to do a proper job. The margins in the midfield are very small, even on a relatively long lap like in Singapore, and every detail makes a difference.
“We need to avoid mistakes and put both cars in a position to fight for the points.”
