F1 News
Raikkonen remains optimistic about Alfa Romeo's car
Bobby Vincent
Kimi Raikkonen has insisted he is still optimistic about Alfa Romeo's car, as he prepares for the fifth race of the season, this weekend in Barcelona.
The strong qualifying session for Alfa in Baku last time out, as well as the findings in pre-season testing on the weekend's track in March, has left the team very optimistic going into Sunday's race.
Raikkonen and his much-less experienced team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi both endured a strong qualifying session, with the latter finishing eighth and Kimi settling for ninth-place in Q3.
The Finn managed to sneak inside the top 10 at the end of the race - finishing above Giovinazzi, who finished in 12th-place. The Iceman is very optimistic going into the weekend's race, as Alfa look to climb up the midfield standings.
"Looking at the results of the winter tests in Barcelona, the race should be okay for us, although of course I'm sure all the teams have improved since then," Raikkonen said.
"But our car is good, the pace is good - we just have to make some progress here and there. If we can get the most out of the car, then this could be a successful weekend."
As it stands, Alfa have 13 points, sitting a point and a place above Renault; who were "best of the rest" last season. That status belongs to McLaren at the moment, who are on 18 points in fourth and Racing Point are between Alfa and the Woking-based squad.
