Frédéric Vasseur says the results will surely come soon for Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN after missing out on points in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday evening.
Kimi Räikkönen ran inside the top ten for much of the evening under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit but could only finish eleventh, while a slow first pit stop for Antonio Giovinazzi dropped him behind his team-mate after running ahead of him in the early laps.
Vasseur, the Team Principal of Alfa Romeo, was pleased to see the team fighting with teams expected to be in the battle for points in Bahrain, and that gives him confidence that 2021 will be a much more successful season compared to 2020, a year that saw the team score only eight points across seventeen races.
“Tonight gave us a strong indication of the progress we have made in the last twelve months,” said Vasseur. “We raced with authority, leaving the Alpines and an Aston Martin behind us and finishing on the tail of the other Aston.
“Even though we leave Bahrain with no points, we do so having reclaimed our place in the midst of the midfield – and results will surely come soon. We demonstrated to be the able to fight in and around the top ten and we can look with optimism to the rest of the season.
“It was an eventful race, even though the low attrition rate – just two retirements – meant we had our work cut out when aiming for a place in the points. We take a lot of positives, however, knowing we can go to the next race in Imola, in two weeks, ready to battle again for a place in the top ten.”
