2021 FIA Formula One Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying – Saturday

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN endured a difficult afternoon in Sochi, with Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi qualifying in 16th and 18th respectively for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. On a wet circuit after heavy rain drenched the venue for the majority of the day – to the point that the final practice session had to be cancelled – the drivers tip-toed around on intermediate tyres, but couldn’t clear Q1.

Kimi and Antonio will gain places due to penalties to other drivers and will aim to make up places in the race.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN: “We were very close to a place in Q2 with Kimi but unfortunately, we missed out. The cancellation of FP3 meant we went straight into qualifying. We were on intermediate tyres, like all our rivals, but in the end we missed just that little bit more to make it past the first segment of qualifying. We’ll see what the weather looks like tomorrow: we have a long race ahead of us and hopefully we can make up some ground towards the top ten.”

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
FP3: session cancelled
Q1: 16th / 1:49.586 (10 laps)

“The conditions weren’t too bad out there but we lacked a bit of grip. The balance of the car was ok, but we were just on the edge all the time – and when that goes over the limit, it goes quickly. The more lap we did the better it got, but in the end we just couldn’t get more out of it. We’ll try our best tomorrow and see where we can end up.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
FP3: session cancelled
Q1: 18th / 1:51.023 (9 laps)

“A disappointing day in which we couldn’t express all our potential. I had an issue with the brakes that made it difficult to drive, especially in the wet and not having run FP3. We need to understand what happened and fix it to have a better day tomorrow. We’ll need to see what weather we’re going to have and focus on our job. We will have faster cars around us, starting from the back, we will need to stay out of trouble and see how we can progress.”

Media contact:

Alfa Romeo Brand
Alessandro Nardizzi      
Alfa Romeo Communication
+39 338 623 9046         
alessandro.nardizzi@alfaromeo.com

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN
press@sauber-group.com

Will Ponissi
+41 79 591 57 85
william.ponissi@sauber-group.com

Katharina Rees
+41 79 757 52 85
katharina.rees@sauber-group.com