Kimi Raikkonen is a man of few words, which means that what he says often carries more weight – and the Finn was in a good mood after a tough weekend for his Alfa Romeo team in Hungary.
Alfa Romeo was the slowest team in qualifying as Raikkonen finished 20th and last on the grid, one position behind his team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi. The race itself was more entertaining for the Finn as he climbed to 15th place by the end and set a fastest lap time that was faster than five drivers in front of him.
“It was a disaster, but we just have to do things better,” said Raikkonen. “And we have to make the car faster – it’s that simple.
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“It wasn’t a very busy race for me. Unfortunately, at the start where we started, we had a very difficult task ahead of us: We did what we could, but it wasn’t enough for points. Our pace wasn’t that bad, I made up a few places at the start, but the penalty brought me back to the end. “
Raikkonen’s penalty was a five-second penalty for not being on the grid. Its starting position meant that it was the last car to form and therefore didn’t have time to drive back to its starting position.
“The starting grid was a bit slippery, I pitted a little too long and didn’t have time to turn back; We could have been up a few places so it’s a bit of a shame. We still have a lot to do to improve our qualifying, but we can rate our performance on Sunday as positive, ”he said.
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Hungarian GP: Raikkonen gains positions after starting from the wrong starting position
It wasn’t a smooth race for Antonio Giovinazzi in the other Alfa Romeo either, as he needed three stops and all three dry weather mixes to finish 17th.
“It was always difficult to make up ground after qualifying, but at least we can be satisfied with the pace we had towards the end of the race,” said Giovinazzi. “My start was okay, but on my first stop we switched to soft tires, which turned out to be not the best compound.
“That cost me a lot of time and when we switched to the hards, which were much better, it was too late to regain a lot of positions. The week-long break before Silverstone will be very important for us to understand a little more about what has happened in the past few weeks. We have to work really hard to improve our car and be in better shape for the next triple header. “
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“Difficult Sunday” for Antonio Giovinazzi
Although Alfa Romeo only had two points to show from the first three races, team principal Fred Vasseur believes that the potential for better results lies in their performance in qualifying.
“The bottom line is disappointing, but when you look at the data it’s very clear that the car was more competitive than our final placings suggest,” said Vasseur. “We had the pace to challenge our direct competitors and some faster cars, but we were always at a disadvantage from behind.
“Both cars had good pace and with a bit more luck we could have taken a point or two home, but Kimi’s penalty and Antonio’s suffering from the soft tires meant that we couldn’t make up the gap. With a better qualifying yesterday we would have been in the middle of the battle for the points. “
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