Weather: cloudy, 16.9-.18.2°C air, 26.6-30.7°C track
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG disclosed that racing today was never going to be easy given yesterday’s tragic circumstances. Anthoine was one of my drivers in F3 and the minute of silence we observed for him today was quite an emotional moment. My thoughts go out to his family, while at the same time I hope for a quick recovery for our Sauber Junior driver Juan Manuel. As for the race, it was an afternoon to forget: Kimi’s race was over within a few hundred metres from the start, when he was hit by Max Verstappen in a very optimistic move, and Antonio missed out on some good points with an accident in the last lap.
When tragedies such as the one that took Anthoine Hubert happen, everything else loses relevance. Today we raced to honour the memory of the young Frenchman: it wasn’t a lucky race for us and we leave Spa-Francorchamps empty-handed despite lots of potential. Today, however, it wasn’t the final result that mattered.
Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
Result: 16th
Fastest lap: 1:48.753
Tyres: Softs (1 lap) – Medium (30 laps)
“UNFORTUNATELY MY RACE WAS ALREADY OVER IN TURN ONE. I HAD TO SLOW DOWN AS BOTTAS WAS AT THE OUTSIDE AND THE NEXT THING I KNOW I GET HIT AND I’M ON TWO WHEELS. AFTERWARDS IT WAS NEARLY POINTLESS TO STAY OUT AS THERE WAS A LOT OF DAMAGE TO THE FLOOR BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN SO WE DID THE WHOLE DISTANCE. REALLY A SHAME AS WE HAD A STRONG CAR TODAY.”-
Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Result: (DNF) 18th
Fastest lap: 1:47.560
Tyres: Medium (29 laps) – Softs (15 laps)
“THE CAR HAS BEEN REALLY STRONG TODAY AND THEREFORE IT’S EVEN MORE DISAPPOINTING NOT TO FINISH THE RACE WITH AN ACCIDENT IN THE LAST LAP. OUR STRATEGY WAS GREAT AND WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE POINTS AND FOR THIS I FEEL SORRY FOR EVERYONE IN THE TEAM, BUT I GUESS THAT’S RACING.”
