New Alfa Romeo faster than last year despite rule changes · RaceFans

Kimi Raikkonen was encouraged by Alfa Romeo’s performance after a hard final day behind the wheel of his Ferrari-powered C41 yesterday.

Despite new regulations designed to reduce and slow down the downforce of the cars, Raikkonen says his new car is already faster than the team’s machine for 2020.

Raikkonen completed 166 laps on Sunday, the highest one-day total of any driver during the three-day test. He set the fourth fastest time of the test overall with the softest C5 tire compound available.

Although Raikkonen said it was difficult to draw conclusions about the car’s performance compared to its competitors, he believes the redesigned Alfa Romeo is a clear step forward over its predecessor.

“It was a positive day,” he said. “We have everything we came here for, and now all we have to do is see where we are when we’re back in two weeks.

“Test times mean nothing and at the moment we don’t know how all the other teams will develop. But we know how our car works and it’s better than last year.

“I think we’ll be faster than our best at the end of 2020, but we’ll have to see if that leads to a better performance in the races.”

Raikkonen previously stated that Ferrari had improved its engine, which was a significant weakness for Scuderia and its customer teams last year. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said yesterday that his team is no longer at a disadvantage in terms of straight-line speed.

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