The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Formula One Team got off to a strong start on Friday in Saudi Arabia where Antonio Giovinazzi ended the opening session in fifth place with a time of 01:30.318s while in the second session the Italian ended up in 13th place with a time of 01:30.110s and speaking following the action, the Italian who took part in his first ABB FIA Formula E test earlier this week in Valencia commented saying:
“I really hit the ground running with this track, I had a great feeling and I am really happy about the day. I was a bit worried that, coming from a Formula E test, I’d be struggling to regain the feeling with this car and the pace, but that wasn’t the case. The car felt great from the start in FP1 and we can build on this for tomorrow. I had a good feeling in the quali runs in FP2 and we can make another step forward tonight. The track is really fast and fun and we were surprised by the amount of grip. When you have good grip on a street track, it’s really enjoyable – but we need to be focused as any small mistake can cost you a lot. I am looking forward to qualifying tomorrow, hopefully it’s going to be a strong day for us.”
Kimi Raikkonen in the second Alfa ended the opening session in 16th place with a time of 01:31.296s while in the second session the Iceman set the 14th fastest time with a time of 01:30.276s and speaking following the action he said;
“It was an interesting first day on this track. It’s a very fast circuit, lots of fast corners which means it will not be easy to overtake without a big speed differential. I say a lot of fast corners, but there’s a lot more of them on the map than what it feels in the car. Only about half of them are actual corners, most of them are flat out and may as well be straights! Sure enough, at least this circuit feels different from many others and it was quite ok to drive. Dealing with traffic in qualifying will be tricky, especially in the fast parts, but we’ll manage.”
Ben's News Round-Up 