Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s Kimi Raikkonen scored his best result of the season to date in a rain-affected Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi circuit on Sunday. The Iceman started the race from 13th due to penalties handed to other drivers and came through the field to finish the 53 lap race in eighth place and speaking following the event the Iceman said:
“It was a good result we fought hard for. We could keep up with our rivals in the dry but passing them was not easy, especially in the DRS trains. In the end, we made the right call on the tyres: I thought it was getting too wet and we chose to box, which really helped us in the end. We did the best we could and we have some points to show for it.”
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Team Principal Frederic Vasseur commented saying:
The race ended up being very exciting and we head home with a good haul of points. Despite a difficult Saturday, we entered the race with some quiet optimism as we knew we would be in a position to fight. Kimi had a good start to jump to P10, while Antonio was hit and had to recover from the back. He was in a few good fights and made some nice overtaking moves –all the more so as he had no radio. Kimi was able to stay with Ocon for most of the race, just outside the points, and when the rain came we made the right call to stop for inters. He was able to make up ground and cross the line in P8, four good points for the team. It’s a good result, a reward for the job we have done so far and a confidence boost ahead of the next race in Turkey, in two weeks.
Antonio Giovinazzi ended the race in 16th place and speaking following the event he said:
“It was an eventful race with lots going on. I was hit in turn two and I lost a few places there: in addition, I was without radio from the first lap, so it was impossible to communicate with the team. It has been a difficult afternoon, especially when the rain started at the end of the race and I couldn’t talk to the pits about the tyre change. I’m pleased for the team’s result, but I’m already looking forward to Turkey.”