Kimi Räikkönen has fond memories of racing at the Circuit of the Americas after taking his final Formula 1 race victory there in 2018, but once behind the wheel of the car, he knows these memories count for nothing.
The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN driver took a superb and well-received victory in the United States of America three years ago whilst racing for Scuderia Ferrari, but he knows this weekend will be all about fighting for points rather than the win.
Räikkönen has only scored points on three occasions in 2021, and he knows Alfa Romeo will need to start the weekend on the front foot if they are to add to their points tally this weekend as they bid to deny Williams Racing eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“I have some good memories of COTA: of course, it was the place where I scored my last win so it’s a nice thing to look back to, but once I get into the car that doesn’t matter,” said Räikkönen. “We know we have to do everything well if we want to come away with something from the race, and that starts on Friday.
“We had two races in which the conditions were changing and we had to react to them, now let’s see what the weekend in America has to offer and where we end up.”
“Hopefully we’ll get one better than we did two weeks ago” – Antonio Giovinazzi
Team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi admits it was frustrating not to score points in the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago, with the Italian coming up one lap short as he attempted to close the gap down to Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon.
Giovinazzi sits eighteenth in the Drivers’ Championship with only one point to his name in 2021, which came way back in May in the Monaco Grand Prix, but he was less than a second away from catching Ocon at Intercity Istanbul Park only to run out of laps to make a move for tenth position.
The Italian is looking forward to returning to the Circuit of the Americas for the first time since 2019, and although he finished fourteenth there that weekend, he felt it was a strong weekend, and he is aiming for the top ten this time around.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend in Austin,” said Giovinazzi. “It’s always a nice place to visit, the people are super friendly and the city is great. I remember fondly the time we raced there in 2019, it was a great weekend and I hope this time it will be the same.
“It was frustrating to miss out on the points for such a small margin in Turkey, we had the pace to bring home a top ten finish but it wasn’t to be. We will need to give 100% this time out too and hopefully we’ll get one better than we did two weeks ago.”
