Kimi Räikkönen enjoys “some good battles” on his way to seventh in Bahrain. Kimi Räikkönen enjoys “some good battles” on his way to seventh in Bahrain.

Kimi Räikkönen continued his strong start to the season for Alfa Romeo Racing with another point-scoring race in the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Kimi benefitted from Romain Grosjean‘s three-place grid penalty to start the race a strong eighth. The former world champion then spent much of the race inside the top ten and enjoyed a spirited battle with rookie Lando Norris throughout the closing stages.

“It was a nice race, there were some good battles,” said Räikkönen. “In the middle of the race we had a bit of a tricky moment, with the wind and the tyres posing a challenge. By the second pitstop the car felt really good.”

Ultimately, Kimi lost out in his battle with Norris and finished seventh, benefitting from the late retirements of both Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.

Kimi’s second point-scoring race in a row proves that Alfa Romeo Racing are well and truly in the fight with Formula 1’s tight mid-field and Räikkönen vows that his team will continue to make progess.

“Step by step, we will try to make everything more solid and will make more progress.”