“To have a ninth place feels really deserved” – Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi was one of the drivers of the day at the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after scoring two valuable points at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit with a ninth place finish. Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen didn’t have quite as successful a Grand Prix, the Finnish veteran crossed the line in fifteenth.

Giovinazzi’s run of just finishing outside the points finally came to an end at Saudi Arabia, after running virtually the entire race in the points. The Italian pulled off some brilliant overtakes in what was an attacking yet controlled display by the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN driver. The Italian could’ve had a seventh place finish, had it not been for both Scuderia Ferrari’s who were just too quick for the Alfa Romeo driver.

Giovinazzi was really happy with the result in what was a physically demanding race.

“I am really happy with tonight’s race – not just the result, but the performance as a whole. We were strong in qualifying yesterday already, and today we managed to keep out of trouble in the chaos: we always made some gain in the starts and we had the pace to keep in the top ten, even though at the end the two Ferraris were just too quick for us.

“It was a tough race, very physical – it reminded me of Singapore at times, with the heat and humidity – but in the end we have a good reward to show for it. We finished so many times just outside the points, in P11, so to have a ninth place feels really deserved. I am looking forward to Abu Dhabi and to fight for another good result to close the season well.”

“I tried to make the corner but we touched” – Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen’s Grand Prix was certainly an eventful one, the 2007 World Champion was involved in a great battle with fellow veteran Sebastian Vettel. Unfortunately the pair’s battle ended in tears, as the duo collided at Turn 4 after two into one simply wouldn’t go!

The Finnish driver tried to go around the outside of the German who ran deep into the corner, the pair collided causing damage to both cars. After the collision there was no way back for Räikkönen who had to settle for fifteenth.

Räikkönen believed his pace was okay and that the incident with Vettel was unfortunate, only one race now remains in Räikkönen’s Formula One career.

“It was a hectic race, especially with all the restarts and the first laps. Our pace was not too bad and we could have fought for the points, but once I picked up damage in the contact with Vettel, it was really difficult. There wasn’t much in it, we were going side by side, I tried to make the corner but we touched. That ruined my race completely, there was no way back from there.”