In a Saudi Arabian GP characterized by authentic twists and circumstances at the limit of the incredible, some more than satisfactory results stand out for several drivers engaged on the new and demanding track of Jeddah: in addition to the second podium of the season touched by Esteban Ocon – third up to a few meters from the finish – Italian motoring can rejoice in entering the points of Antonio Giovinazzi. The pilot of theAlfa Romeo, close to leaving F1 to move to Formula E at the end of the current season, has in fact concluded his performance at the ninth place, honoring the placement in Q3 obtained yesterday in qualifying. In this way, the Apulian returns to conquer points for the first time in this championship after the Monaco GP, collecting the ninth overall placement in his career among the top ten. Thanks to this performance, the 27-year-old from Martina Franca – who will celebrate 28 years over the course of next weekend in Abu Dhabi – thus climbs to three points in the world championship standings, remaining in 18th position ahead of the two Haas drivers.
With this performance, Giovinazzi confirms his qualities on city tracks, remarked in a tweet he published shortly after the checkered flag was exposed: “When it gets harder, when the track is unforgiving, when you know it’s all up to you. It is in these moments that I get excited, these are the points that matter most “. The number 99 of Alfa Romeo will also try to repeat himself in the next stage in Abu Dhabi, the last for him at the wheel of the Swiss single-seater and, more generally, in F1. In 2022, in fact, he will leave his seat to the Chinese Guanyu Zhou to settle in the Dragon-Penske team, with whom he will face his first season in the category reserved for electric cars. Before that, the Italian added further comments on his race: “I’m really happy with tonight’s rehearsal – he has declared – not just for the result, but for the overall performance. We were strong already yesterday in qualifying, and today we managed to keep ourselves out of trouble in the chaos: we always gained something in the starts and we had the pace to stay in the top ten, even if in the end the two Ferraris were too fast for us. It was a tough, very physical race – it reminded me of Singapore at times, with the heat and humidity – but in the end we have a good reward to show. We’ve finished so many times just off the mark, in eleventh position, then arrive in ninth place it is really deserved. I am looking forward to Abu Dhabi and to fight for another good result to end the season well ”.
More disappointing, however, the performance of Kimi Raikkonen: the Finnish, arrived 15 ° and first among the non-retired, he was also the protagonist of a wheel-to-wheel duel with his former teammate in Ferrari Sebastian Vettel, which ended with a contact that caused damage to his car: “It was a hectic race – He admitted Iceman – especially with all the restarts and the first laps. Our pace wasn’t bad and we could have fought for the points, but once I took the damage in contact with Vettel it was really difficult. We were going side by side, I tried to make the corner but we touched. This it completely ruined my race, there was no way back from there ”.
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