Raikkonen satisfied with positive Alfa Romeo outing at Austrian GP

Kimi Raikkonen is satisfied with Alfa Romeo’s result from the Austrian Grand Prix in which he and team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi both secured a top 10 finish for the first time this season, but says there is still room for improvement.

It has been a steady start to the season for Alfa Romeo, but up until the weekend it was Raikkonen collecting all the points, with Giovinazzi being the only driver outwith Williams yet to finish in the top 10.

That run was stopped in Austria though as the drivers finished ninth and 10th respectively, and the Finn is looking to keep the momentum going.

“We can be satisfied with scoring points, it was a good result for the team,” Raikkonen said.

“I had a good start and the first laps were pretty ok, but then it became a bit more difficult.”

The summer heat at the Red Bull Ring made tyre management a big priority for the drivers, and Raikkonen admits he had to strike the right balance between keeping them intact and attacking the positions.

Red Bull must be cruel to be kind and take Gasly out of F1 nowRead more

“I felt I lacked a bit of speed to challenge the cars around me and when I did have it, I had to be careful with the tyres,” he continued.

“It was a balancing act, trying to keep the tyres alive long enough while still going fast enough.

“It was a bit of a shame but in the end we got a good result.”

Alfa moved up to sixth in the constructors’ championship after the Austrian GP, but Raikkonen thinks they can do even better.

“We still have margin to improve,” the former world champion added.

“I feel we were a bit better yesterday, but our performance is improving.”

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Toto Wolff puts Lewis Hamilton's 'emotional' F1 boss in his place over Ferrari 'cheating' claim

• 56 minutes ago

Lewis Hamilton F1 title boost as Ferrari prepare another huge upgrade package

• 1 hour ago

Max Verstappen 'upset' at Red Bull over major F1 exit decision, claims insider

• 2 hours ago

Max Verstappen Transfer Latest: McLaren logic, Piastri update and a 'massive' tweet storm

• 3 hours ago

Ferrari controversy after F1 test at new Spanish Grand Prix track

• Yesterday 23:14

Max Verstappen to McLaren now makes sense, this is not the Red Bull we once knew

• Yesterday 22:28