For the first time in 2019, both Alfa Romeo cars managed to get into Q3. Raikkonen narrowly pipped Giovinazzi by 0.013s to win the intra-team battle. Most importantly for the team, however, is the improved performance of the car and getting the tyres to work after a tricky period from Spain to Canada. 

Raikkonen: “We can be pretty happy about today’s result. The speed has been there all weekend and we got what we wanted in qualifying. Everyone is very close here and if you get things right you can be high up: I feel we could have perhaps been ahead of Norris as the gaps were so small but in the end we’ll take this. Tomorrow is when it matters and we will try to do the best job we can. We still have things to improve but we are starting from a good position. We need to be careful and do a good job on the first lap and we’ll see where we end up.” 

Giovinazzi: “I am really pleased with today’s performance, both mine and of the team as a whole. Our car has made a step forward since France, I feel I am getting more and more confident every time I step in the car and I am happy with the work we are doing together with the team. Having two cars in the top ten gives us a good chance to score points, but we still need to work out the best strategy for the race. Our long run pace is good and I think we can play our part in tomorrow’s battle: we’ll be giving it all we have to bring home a good result.” 

Vasseur: “Having both cars in Q3 was our target for today and we can be satisfied about reaching it. On such a short track the gaps were minimal and Kimi and Antonio were able to drive good, clean laps to claim our highest qualifying positions of the year so far. We will need to come up with a good strategy that allows both drivers to make the best of their starting positions: it’s going to be a challenging race but we are confident we can score a good result.”