Alfa Romeo’s Frédéric Vasseur: “We continue to close the gap with the leaders”

Frédéric Vasseur admitted it was disappointing to miss out on points once again in the British Grand Prix, with Kimi Räikkönen’s late spin after small contact with Sergio Pérez ending Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s shot at the top ten.

Räikkönen was embroiled in a close battle with Red Bull Racing’s Pérez for the minor points, with the two running side-by-side for a number of corners, but the two made contact heading into the penultimate turn, with the Finn coming off worst as he ended up spinning down the order.

Antonio Giovinazzi ended up being the lead Alfa Romeo driver at the chequered flag in thirteenth with Räikkönen fifteenth, meaning the team remain in eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship with only two points to their name after the first ten races.

Vasseur, the Team Principal at Alfa Romeo, says the team are continuing to close the gap on those in front, but it was always going to be a struggle at Silverstone, a track that they were expected to find difficult.

“Another race in which our good pace put us close to the points, but in which the reward eventually eluded us,” said Vasseur.  “We had a good start, we were able to run in the top ten both before the stops and at the time of Kimi’s contact with Checo, but in the end we just missed something to stay ahead.

“We continue to close the gap with the leaders, even on a track where we expected to struggle a bit more, and that should be a good sign ahead of other circuits where we can hope to extract more from our package.”