#BakGP: Qualifying

2019 FIA Formula One Socar Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Qualifying – Saturday 

27.04.2019

Weather: FP3: sunny and dry, 17°C air, 44°C track; Qualifying: sunny and dry, 14-17°C air, 26-36°C track

CAN WE? YES WE CAN!

Can we describe our cheerful mood after Qualifying in a sentence containing of Song Contest winners?

YES WE CAN!

No WATERLOO (Sweden, 1964) today, quite a FAIRYTALE (Norway, 2009). Two cars in the Top Ten: HALLELUJA (Israel, 1979)! Antonio, we always did BELIEVE (Russia, 2008), you and Kimi are our HEROES (Sweden, 2015).
Tomorrow you’ll RISE LIKE A PHOENIX (Austria, 2014) and you’ll be our ROCK’N ROLL KIDS (IRELAND, 1994) and we’ll celebrate: DIGGI-LOO DIGGI-LEY (Sweden, 1984).

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG:
“Overall, the qualifying was a good one as we have both cars in the Top Ten for the first time. While Antonio showed a very strong performance, it’s a shame we didn’t show our potential during Q3 with Kimi. We struggled with the outlap in the traffic. Our pace has been promising so far and we are confident to have a good result in the race.”

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Qualifying: 9th (1:42.059 / softs / 21 laps)
3rd practice: 10th (1:43.537 / softs / 21 laps)
“Quite disappointing as I couldn’t put a decent lap together in the last part of qualifying. For the last try I was to close to the Mercedes so my lap was more or less over before it had even started. My expectations for the race? I don’t have any, as anything can happen here.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Qualifying: 8th (1:42.140 / softs / 21 laps)
3rd practice: 12th (1:43.637 / softs / 20 laps)
“To be in Q3 for the first time makes me really happy. My pace was already very strong in yesterday’s FP2. We got the maximum out of our car today, and even if I’ve been given a 10-place penalty I hope to score some points here. It’s been a chaotic race for the last two years and we can’t predict how it will be tomorrow, so we will do our best to have a good race and fight our way forward.”