Frédéric Vasseur says the Spanish Grand Prix showed once again that the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team are embroiled in the battle for points in 2021, but for a fourth consecutive race, they went home empty handed.
Kimi Räikkönen attempted a one-stop strategy at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and ran inside the top ten early on before sliding to twelfth when the strategies all played themselves out, while team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi’s race was compromised early by a problematic pit stop.
Vasseur, the Team Principal of Alfa Romeo and the CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG, says it was pleasing to see the team fighting for top ten positions, but there are still improvements to be made if they are to be a genuine points contender week in and week out this season.
He insists the team will not lose heart despite being one of three outfits yet to score points in 2021, and he says the progress they have made this year will hopefully continue into the rest of the season.
“Today was another race in which we proved we can fight with all the cars in our section of the midfield, but we came home with nothing to show for it,” said Vasseur.
“To end just outside the points in a race with just one car failing to finish shows we are in the right place to benefit from any trouble, but we know we have to still improve to make it into the top ten on pure merit.
“We don’t lose heart, we have made a lot of progress already and we do not intend to stop now.”
