Out of the points in Sakhir

Bahrain produced a second spectacular race in two weeks as tonight’s relatively sedate affair burst into action with a late safety car. Further surprises conspired to turn the order upside down and produce a new first-time winner in the shape of Sergio Perez, but unfortunately the shake-up didn’t reward our efforts, with Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen finishing 13th and 14th respectively.
 
The race start saw Antonio gain one place from his P14 grid slot, while Kimi was the victim of a spin at turn three that compromised the remainder of his first stint. After that moment, the two managed their races, taking the chance of two virtual safety cars to visit the pits for some extra stops but unable to make progress on a track where overtaking remains a challenge.
 
The result keeps the team in eighth place in the constructors’ championship with one round left on the calendar.
 
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG: “We kept our cool in a race where many others made mistakes, but in the end that was not enough to bring home some points. Besides Kimi’s spin on the opening lap, neither drivers nor team did much wrong and to bring home the cars in P13 and P14, behind a Ferrari, is probably as much as we could achieve tonight. Antonio had good pace throughout the race, but on this track it was quite difficult to overtake and he couldn’t really express it to the fullest. We can still find something more and hopefully finish the season strongly in Abu Dhabi next week, so that we can carry this momentum into the winter break.” 

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C39 (Chassis 05/Ferrari)
Race result: 14th
Fastest lap: 0:57.375
Tyres: New Medium (23 laps) – New Hard (31 laps) – New Medium (8 laps) – New Soft (25 laps)

“It was a difficult night in which we probably got as much as we could have hoped for, given the circumstances. I had a good start but had to go wide outside of turn two, hit the kerb and lost the rear. I lost two places there but in the end it made no difference for the end result. The car felt really similar to last week: it was good with fresh tyres but the pace fell off as the stint went on.”
 
Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C39 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
Race result: 13th
Fastest lap: 0:56.887
Tyres: New Medium (26 laps) – New Hard (28 laps) – New Medium (33 laps)

“P13 was probably the maximum we could achieve on the night so to finish in front of our rivals and just behind a Ferrari is what we have to take home. Overtaking was very difficult, even though we seemed to be quick enough in the corners, and in the end we couldn’t really take any advantage out of the late safety car. Hopefully we can be a bit more competitive next week and finish the season well.”