Sunday: Ferrari F1 closes in on Red Bull, Alonso narrowly misses the podium
After a good race, Fernando Alonso finishes fourth but believes he could have clinched second without the safety car. Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen found himself stuck behind Valtteri Bottas's Williams due to the deficient top speed of his F1.
Fernando Alonso (No. 14) – 4th
The Bull of Asturias admitted after the race that his mistake at the start might have cost him the podium, even though he takes comfort in Ferrari’s improved competitiveness against the best teams in the championship.
According to him, the appearance of the safety car happened at the wrong time since Scuderia had no plan B: We didn’t have much of an alternative because if we had stayed on track, the likelihood was that a pit stop to switch to soft tires would have caused us to lose more positions. Even though I couldn’t pass in the end, the fact that we were competitive until the finish confirms that we have made a step forward. Now, at Suzuka, a real circuit, we will have a better idea of where we stand.
Kimi Räikkönen (No. 7) – 8th
Although he was disappointed with his result at the finish, *Iceman* takes away positives from a promising weekend, even if he couldn’t take advantage of the apparent progress of the F14T: « Today’s race was really frustrating because despite being fast, we couldn’t finish where we wanted. My start was good, I gained a few places and everything was working perfectly. After the first stop, I lost a place to Felipe and from then on, I was stuck behind a Williams for the entire race. Unfortunately, every time I got closer, I lost aero performance and above all, tire degradation was very high. »
