Alfa aiming for best of the rest after strong start to 2019

Alfa Romeo is targetting fourth in the constructor standings after a strong start to the 2019 Formula 1 season has given the team a boost in confidence.

Kimi Raikkonen has scored three times out of three so far this year, with ninth place at the Chinese Grand Prix a boost to the team that had suffered an earlier setback during the weekend, with teammate Antonio Giovinazzi sustaining a control electronics issue.

Ferrari diagnosed the issue as being identical to that of Charles Leclerc's in Bahrain, which prevented the Monegasque driver from taking his first race victory in his F1 career.

Speaking after the Chinese Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur said that the result was a boost but the team needed to become more consistent in scoring good points if the target was to be met.

"Overall it was a good Sunday for us, we had a good recovery compared to [qualifying]," Vasseur told Autosport.

"It's important for us to score points every race and be consistent.

"We know perfectly well that if we want to stay on the top of the rest - I don't care if it's P4 or P5 - we have to be consistent over all the races, and be able to score points in every single event."