Formula 1

Alfa Romeo: ‘Everything still to play for’ in ‘crucial’ triple-header

3 Mins read
Kimi Raikkonen - Turkey 2020
Credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI

Although they sit in eighth in the constructors table, Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN are looking to maximise all opportunities in the upcoming Middle-Eastern triple header.

The team are eager to score points in the final races to stay ahead of Haas F1 Team and Williams Racing, as with just three grands prix to go in the 2020 season their position in the standings can easily be jeopardised by poor performances.

Frédéric Vasseur– team principal of Alfa Romeo- believes that ‘everything is still to play for’ in the next few races, and he hopes the team can maintain the same enthusiasm and passion in the final stretch of a ‘tiring’ season.

The final stretch of the season is here: it’s a crucial triple-header and there’s still everything to play for. Of course, after such an intense year everyone is starting to feel a bit of fatigue and, with next season just around the corner, the temptation would be to look to the future already and lose sight of the objective at hand, but we cannot underestimate the task ahead of us in these final three races.

Vasseur believes the team is operating on an upwards curve, and hopes to capitalise on the proven points-scoring capabilities of the C39.

“We have shown in Turkey, with both Kimi and Antonio qualifying in the top ten, that we are moving upwards, and the run we had in the second part of the season, scoring in half the events we took part in, gives us confidence we can keep performing well

Räikkönen: “We will try to get the most out of the race weekend”

Kimi Räikkönen was another who seemed optimistic about the next few races- albeit in his typically quiet and reserved manner.

The Finn enjoyed stellar performances in the past few races, qualifying high in Turkey and scoring points at Imola. He is hoping the next few events will provide the same exciting challenge as these, and expressed his admirable adaptability when questioned about ‘Bahrain 2′.

“We’ll have a bit of everything in the next two weeks: we race on a circuit we all know so well, Bahrain, and then on a completely new layout we never used before. Racing on a new track is something we have done quite a few times this season so by now I would expect all teams to have a tried and tested approach to this challenge and therefore I don’t think we’ll have big surprises,” said Räikkönen.

“Still, it will be interesting to see how racing goes on a fairly unusual layout. In the end, we will adapt very quickly to whatever the situation is and try to get the most out of the race weekend.”

“I’m excited for the final three races of the season and I think we will have the opportunity to do well” – Giovinazzi

At a track he has previously excelled at, Antonio Giovinazzi is aiming for a repeat performance of last year at the first race at the Sakhir International Circuit next week.

The Italian- now confirmed to be racing for 2021- wants to finish the season on a high, and is also eagerly anticipating the first ever Formula 1 race at the almost-oval Bahrain outer track.

“I’m excited for the final three races of the season and I think we will have the opportunity to do well. I had a good race in Bahrain last year, just missing out on the points in only my second race back in the sport, and I generally feel good about the circuit.

The layout we will race on in the second week is a bit more of a question mark: it’s very fast and it’s a very short lap, which should make finding space in qualifying a challenge. It’ll be interesting to see how the grip changes from the parts of the track we use in week one to the new ones of week two: there will be a lot to learn but it’ll be an interesting one.

Credit:  Antonin Vincent / DPPI
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