Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN go into the summer break after dropping below Williams Racing in the constructors standings, the team now find themselves in ninth place after a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix.
Both Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi survived the opening lap, whilst many cars around them got caught up in the carnage at turn one.
This put both drivers in a great position to finish in the points with so many cars retiring after the opening lap, however when the race restarted the team experienced the worst of luck. Both drivers were awarded hefty penalties, first Räikkönen for being released from the pits unsafely and causing Nikita Mazepin to retire, and then Giovinazzi for speeding in the pit-lane.
The penalties left both drivers with too much work to do at a circuit where overtaking is almost as difficult as Monaco, Räikkönen crossed the line in eleventh and Giovinazzi in fourteenth. Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur was very disappointed with the result after their strongest qualifying of the season.
“It ended up being a very tough weekend for the team, after a promising start. We came into the race after a good Saturday in which we delivered the best overall qualifying performance of the season but the opening stages were chaos. We got blocked in turn one, trying to avoid the start incidents, and we had to recover from the back of the field on a track where overtaking is very hard.
“Unfortunately, a collision with Mazepin and a speeding in the pitlane offense meant that both Kimi and Antonio received penalties and we weren’t able to turn this chance into points at the end. It’s a shame as it was an opportunity to score big points: but we keep working hard, knowing we will have more opportunities in the second part of the season.”