Kimi Raikkonen has sounded an optimistic tone on Alfa Romeo’s prospects for 2020.
In what was their final year as Sauber last season, the Swiss-based squad enjoyed significant gains thanks in part to Charles Leclerc and the rebuilding of their operation.
The arrival of Raikkonen was expected to be a further boost and his consistency has been much-needed but in the highly competitive midfield, Alfa has struggled to make the same progress, sitting eighth in the Constructors’ standings.
“We’ve had meetings about next year and I think there are good things coming,” Kimi was quoted by F1i.com.
“I’m confident that we’ll keep improving. We have a great group of people and we’re working well together.
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“Where that will put you on the grid, who knows?” he conceded. “At winter testing, people aren’t looking at the lap times, so it gives you zero [knowledge].
“The first race will tell the truth in the end,” he concluded.
In Raikkonen’s immediate mind is this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix and Friday wasn’t ideal with the 39-year-old only managing P15 in the afternoon.
“Singapore was another weekend where we showed some promise but things didn’t go our way in the race, so it was obviously a disappointment,” he had said beforehand.
“The plan for Sochi is not different from what we aimed for so far. We need a clean weekend where we can show how good our car is and keep out of trouble.
“I haven’t been very lucky in Russia in previous years but hopefully we can turn the record around this time.”