2020 was a very difficult season for Alfa Romeo. A tricky car to drive, as well as having the slowest Power Unit on the grid, saw them only score eight points all season as they finished P8 in the Constructors’ Championship. 

2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen believes Ferrari have improved the engine and it’s better than last year’s version as Ferrari look to claw back ground in the horsepower stakes against the other three manufacturers. 

“I’m sure they’ve made progress,” he said. “It’s better, but then you would expect that the other manufacturers have also improved. 

“But comparing what we had last year it’s in a better position. We’ll have to wait and see where it is once the racing starts.” 

Alfa Romeo are equal second on the list for most laps completed in testing so far, just one behind Alpine and level with Red Bull. 256 laps represent an excellent two days for the Swiss-based team so far. The Finn commented that the C41 feels slightly different to last year’s package.  

“It’s early days, obviously,” says Raikkonen. “We had no issues yesterday the whole day and I think this morning was the same. So on that side, everything is good. 

“The car felt slightly different than last year, but it feels very good in some places. The wind made it very difficult yesterday and in other places off the track. But I think it’s a good starting point.” 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Kimi Räikkönen (@kimimatiasraikkonen)

Saturday was a productive day for Antonio Giovinazzi as he got his last taste of action before FP1 in Bahrain in just under two weeks. The Italian logged an excellent 125 laps as he recorded the 4th fastest time on Day Two. His 1:30.760 was 0.471s off the quickest time of the day from Valtteri Bottas. 

The 27-year-old was really happy with the work the team did and is feeling confident about the upcoming season.  

“I am really happy with the work we did: it was a long day, with a lot of laps, but I think we ticked all the boxes on our list,” said Giovinazzi. “We did long runs and qualifying runs and we managed to achieve all we set out to do. 

“It was my last day in the car before the first race and I feel confident about the season. We worked very hard during the winter and we are ready for the first round: it’s hard to say where we expect to stand, I think we have a good baseline but we won’t know for certain until the first qualifying of the year.” 

124 giri e nessuna voglia di scendere dall'auto 💥👊
.
I can say it was a kind of a busy day 😅
Positive feelings for the beginning of the season💪🏻🔥#AlfaRomeoRacing #AG99🐝 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/yQN7MNKsJm

— Antonio Giovinazzi (@Anto_Giovinazzi) March 13, 2021