Kimi Raikkonen is preparing for his 19th season in Formula 1 after making his debut at Sauber in 2001. But now back with the team in their Alfa Romeo garb, Raikkonen said the pace of the team’s 2021 car – the C41 – has picked up whether it will be shooting for a 20th season next year.
Despite his 41 years of age, Raikkonen showed a strong pre-season test performance in Bahrain, helping Alfa Romeo to get the meanest laps of all – 422 shared with AlphaTauri – while Raikkonen was fourth fastest on the final day of the test overall.
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But although the signs for Alfa Romeo look more promising this season than last season – when they finished eighth in the constructors’ championship with just eight points – whether they are competitive or not, the Finn himself does not decide on Raikkonen’s future.
“I doubt it will make any difference what happens next year,” said Raikkonen. “But the better we can, the more fun it is of course not only for us as drivers, but also for the team and everyone is happier, the better.
The Alfa Romeo C41 showed great promise in pre-season testing
“So I think… years when you’re not exactly where you want to be, it’s always long years, it’s not that much fun and you can see it on everyone’s face.
“But where we end up in the first race, we continue to work and improve and hopefully we are where we want to be, hopefully regularly for points, we just keep working.”
A big factor in the performance of the Alfa Romeo C41 will be its new Ferrari power unit, developed by Maranello in response to a lackluster season for Ferrari and their two customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo last year.
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And while Raikkonen is notoriously known for not making big predictions when it comes to performance, the 2007 Champion felt that the new unit was at least more powerful than the old one.
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“We have definitely got a little more horsepower,” said Raikkonen. “It’s definitely a step forward, but in many ways you’d expect the other manufacturers to do the same, so how much … have they improved? But it is definitely a step in the right direction. It’s the same with the car: you always want more, but it works right. “
The post The competitiveness of the new Alfa Romeo will not determine my future in F1, says Kimi Raikkonen first appeared on monter-une-startup.
