A disappointing Austrian Grand Prix brought an underwhelming end to the triple-header for the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team, where Antonio Giovinazzi finished fourteenth and Kimi Räikkönen sixteenth.
Giovinazzi had yet another torrid time at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian had to pit at the end of the first lap, after colliding with Esteban Ocon which brought out the races only safety car. Giovinazzi was then awarded a five-second time penalty for overtaking under that exact same safety car, ending any hope of salvaging a good result for the Italian.
Kimi Räikkönen on the other hand actually had a pretty good race, right up until the final lap. The 2007 world champion was in a great battle for tenth place with George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the closing laps. Drama struck for Räikkönen on the final lap though as he hit Vettel at turn five whilst the Aston Martin driver was overtaking him for twelfth. Räikkönen was completely unaware of where Vettel was and speared them both off into the gravel.
Räikkönen did manage to get out of the gravel trap and cross the line in sixteenth place. The Finnish driver was awarded two penalty points for causing the last lap collision.
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur is disappointed to be leaving Austria with no points gained from either race at the Red Bull Ring.
“Of course it is disappointing to leave Austria with no points after two races in which our pace was good. We paid the price for a poor Saturday, as starting from 15th and 16th made our lives unnecessarily hard. Both cars had pace, as Kimi showed towards the end of the race, but the job at hand was just too big in the end. We can build on the positives, of course, but we will need to address the weak points as we attempt to make the final step towards the top ten in Britain.”
