A tantalising podium had Kimi Raikkonen disappointed despite fourth place at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Finn’s Alfa Romeo team would score their best finish since being Sauber at the 2012 German GP, as Antonio Giovinazzi finished fifth behind his teammate.
This as both Ferrari’s, both Mercedes’ and Alex Albon fell down the field or retired during and following the crazy finale at Interlagos.
“It’s great to finally be able to celebrate our best result of the season as a team,” said the 2007 world champion.
“It was a positive day and finally we were able to get the result we worked so hard for. We kept on our own most of the race, but at the end, we were in the middle of the action.
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“I am disappointed we couldn’t get past [Carlos] Sainz for what turned out to be the final podium position,” he added. “We had the speed, got a good run on him twice but couldn’t get past.
“You always want something more. In the end, it’s good to get big points with both cars.”
Perhaps most frustrating for Raikkonen was being unable to capitalise on Sainz’s poor pace as he made a one-stop strategy work to move up from P20 to P3.
There were no such thoughts for Giovinazzi, however, as the Italian scored his best finish in F1.
“I am really, really happy today, for both myself and the team,” he said. “What a great race.
“It was a fantastic way to celebrate my contract for next year with two cars in the points. Everyone in the team did a wonderful job and we can be really happy with our work.
“We are improving race after race and we can now focus on Abu Dhabi and on finishing the season in the right way.”
