2021 FIA Formula One United States Grand Prix – Qualifying – Saturday

Comunicato STELLANTIS

 

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN booked a place in Q2 during qualifying for the 2021 United States Grand Prix in Austin, as Antonio Giovinazzi set the 13th fastest time on Saturday afternoon. Team-mate, Kimi Räikkönen, was 18th as both drivers will make up places for tomorrow’s race at the Circuit of the Americas, owing to penalties to other drivers.

 

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN: “We finish Saturday knowing we are in a good position to fight for the points in tomorrow’s race. Antonio had a good session, with a strong first lap in Q1 that was enough to go through, and in Q2 he kept it clean to be in 13th – which should mean P12 on the grid tomorrow. We saw how difficult it was to put a full lap together, each corner can catch you out with the bumps and the wind and many laps got cancelled. Unfortunately Kimi was a victim of these conditions and couldn’t progress from Q1, but with penalties to some other drivers he should still be starting in a competitive position. We’ll see how the race unfolds tomorrow: we’ve seen some exciting ones here in the past, so we will need to be at our sharpest to make sure we make the most of anything that happens.”

 

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
FP3: 13th / 1:36.062 (19 laps)
Q1: 18th / 1:36.311 (7 laps)

“Not a good day at the office, none of the laps we did was any good. I got sideways on my first lap, the second got cancelled and in my final run I also had a moment and from then on, the lap was gone. It’s not ideal, it was one of those days in which nothing goes well. We’ll make up a few places with the penalties, but we will need to be sharper in the race.”

 

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
FP3: 15th / 1:36.252 (21 laps)
Q1: 1:35.920 (5 laps)
Q2: 13th / 1:35.794 (3 laps)

“Not a bad result in the end, we will be starting just outside the top ten with a free choice of tyres, which can be an advantage as we saw that running with the softs is not easy. I’m happy with the job we have done today: my first lap in Q1 was good, enough to go through as I lost the rear on the exit of T1 in my second run. This time we got lucky, for a change! Our race pace wasn’t bad in practice, so let’s see how tomorrow goes. The aim is to drive into the points: we’ll analyse the different scenarios and hope to pull off a good first lap, which would help us fight for the top ten.”

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