The disappointing result of the qualifications of the Qatar Grand Prix and the criticality of the damage reported to the bottom of the cars did not presage a smooth race for theAlfa Romeo, appeared in difficulty on the Losail track throughout the weekend. However, while not returning to the points, both Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi managed to make the most of the misadventures of Williams’ direct rivals, finishing ahead of them with a 14th and 15th place respectively.
Both George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, the latter forced to retire, were in fact victims of a puncture on each side in the last laps of the race, such as to allow the two riders of the Swiss team to cross the finish line even in front of the two Haas and Valtteri Bottas, who also returned to the pits shortly before the checkered flag. Regardless of when it happened to rivals, Raikkonen expressed his satisfaction with his and the team’s performance, commenting on the outcome of the Qatari test: “I stayed surprised by the overtaking we managed to do – he analyzed – in the end it was a fun race. I didn’t expect much at the start, perhaps because we practically raced with the same one as yesterday, but we had a good start. Furthermore, things continued to improve as the race progressed. I had some good battles and in the end we were catching up on the McLaren and the AlphaTauri in front. In general – he concluded – that we got everything we could from this race ”.
Satisfaction also expressed by Antonio Giovinazzi, in his first race after the announcement of the failure to reconfirm in Alfa Romeo for next season: “We did the best we could – admitted the Apulian – I don’t think we could have done better than fifteenth. We earned four places after a great first lap, and then we had more battles the rest of the race. We were fighting yesterday too, but we knew that with a good race we could finish ahead of Haas and Williams, and that’s what happened. We went for a two stop strategy, as we knew the degradation was high and the curbs were difficult, and in the end we were faster than our rivals. Given where we started – finished – we have to be satisfied with our result“.
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