Kimi Raikkonen is hopeful that the new parts that are set to be introduced to Alfa Romeo’s car for the French Grand Prix can lift the team’s performance. The 2007 Formula One world champion started the season off really well for his new team – recording four successive point finishes for the team he rejoined after his spell at Ferrari.
However, the newly-named Alfa Romeo side have struggled in the previous three races. They struggled with the temperatures in Spain, they struggled to perform to any decent level in qualifying for the Monaco GP, and likewise the Canadian Grand Prix. But Formula One seasons are not a continuum. The succession of races provides teams and drivers with the chance of a fresh start every two weeks, a clean slate at the beginning of each race weekend on which to build. Such turning point is in Alfa Romeo’s sights as we head to the French Grand Prix in Le Castellet, the eighth round of the 2019 season.
Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
“Recently we struggled with grip and therefore we didn’t have enough speed. Some corners were fine, while in others the car felt very strange. We’re getting some new parts on the car for France so this should help us to get back to the performance we had at the beginning of the season.”
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG:
“The last three races didn’t go to plan, but it would be too easy to put it down to bad luck or unfortunate circumstances. As a team we need to do fewer mistakes and we need to work harder, which we have done after coming back from Canada, to get the full potential out of our car. At the same time there is no reason to talk ourselves down, we’re showing fighting spirit and we’ll make the most of the developments we have lined up for the next few races. I am confident we can recover the speed we showed earlier in the season and get back in the fight for points.”
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