Round 5 / Spain Grand Prix

Race Results

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Alfa Romeo Racing Team Quotes

Weather: sunny, 19-21°C air, 38-42°C track

Mi dispiace, mamma*
Olen pahoillani, äiti*

*I’m sorry, mum

The sun was shining on Barcelona. We had baked fresh biscuits. Everything was lined up to celebrate Mother’s Day – all we needed was an exciting race and a double-points finish to produce the perfect present.
Alas, it was not to be, and this year Paula Räikkönen and Anna Giovinazzi will have to do with a box of chocolates and a nice card.

In truth, it was always going to be difficult to recover from the less-than-ideal grid positions their boys were starting from. In the end, the Spanish Grand Prix was not an end-to-end action classic and very little changed between lights and flag. We’ll hope in a better outcome at the next race, on May 26 – hoping we’ll get to celebrate (Poland’s) Mother’s Day in a better fashion… or perhaps National Paper Airplane Day, why not.

Action in Barcelona doesn’t end today, however! Keep tuned with us for two days of testing this coming week, with F2 Sauber Junior Driver Callum Ilott in the car on Tuesday and the Iceman back in the cockpit on Wednesday. It may even be more exciting than today’s race.

PS. We love you, mum.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG:

”It was a disappointing weekend where we never managed to express our potential. It is difficult to find some positives, as the first stint of the race was just a nightmare, but at least the last stint was the best part of the weekend. Circumstances didn’t help and with Antonio’s grid position and Kimi falling to the back in the opening lap, our race was effectively compromised. I would say that today’s result belittles our real level: everything seemed to go against us this weekend, but it’s important for the two days of testing ahead that we honestly assess our performance and get back to where we stood so far this season.”

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Result: 14th. Start on medium tyres, after 28 laps change to hard tyres and after lap 45 on soft tyres

“What can I say? Good that we have two days of testing ahead. We need that and hopefully we can figure out what the problems are. Overall it was not an easy weekend for us – having said that, at the end of the race we had the same speed as the guys in front of us but there was only so much we could do with that. Me going wide in lap 1 didn’t help, but after the start I desperately tried to gain a few positions but it was slippery and I went wide. Pretty disappointing, but as I said, the test will hopefully help to turn things around.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Result: 16th. Start on soft tyres, after 6 laps change to hard tyres and after lap 41 back on soft tyres

“Not an easy weekend for us. We started the race from P18 and went with a bit of different strategy to try and gain some positions, in the end it didn’t work because the pace just was not there. We need to work hard to have a better package in Monaco and achieve a better result. The midfield battle is tight and we have shown in the past we can be in this fight.”

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Weekend Gallery

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