Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team 2018

25.06.2018 ALFA ROMEO CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY WITH POINT AT PAUL RICARD

ALFA ROMEO SAUBER F1 TEAM - 2018 FRENCH GRAND PRIX, PAUL RICARD
ALFA ROMEO SAUBER F1 TEAM - 2018 FRENCH GRAND PRIX, PAUL RICARD
ALFA ROMEO SAUBER F1 TEAM - 2018 FRENCH GRAND PRIX, PAUL RICARD

On the occasion of the 108th Anniversary of the founding of Alfa Romeo (then as A.L.F.A.) the Italian brand picked up a championship point at the French Grand Prix as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s Charles Leclerc came home in P10. Marking a decent afternoon for the Swiss outfit, Leclerc’s team mate Marcus Ericsson finished in P13.

On the occasion of the 108th Anniversary of the founding of Alfa Romeo (then as A.L.F.A.) the Italian brand picked up a championship point at the French Grand Prix as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s Charles Leclerc came home in P10. Marking a decent afternoon for the Swiss outfit, Leclerc’s team mate Marcus Ericsson finished in P13.

After an impressive qualifying on Saturday at the Circuit Paul Ricard, where Leclerc had gone all the way through to the Q3 session for the first time, the young Monégasque driver lined up on the fourth row of the grid in P8 for yesterday’s French Grand Prix, which was returning to the F1 calendar after a decade’s absence.

In an eventful start to the race, which was held in sunny and dry conditions and with a mild threat of rain never materialising, Ericsson evaded an incident on track that involved the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly and the Force India of Esteban Ocon, gaining several positions during the opening lap.

Leclerc also progressed well, showing consistent and strong pace over the course of the race during a weekend when the paddock rumours that the Ferrari-supported young driver will replace Kimi Raikkonen at the Scuderia next year really grew wings. Both drivers in fact did an excellent job in fighting with their rivals during the race and defending their positions.

With another point to add to its tally, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team now heads to Spielberg to take part in the second of the three back-to-back races – the Austrian Grand Prix.

For the third time in a row, the team performed the fastest pit stop of all teams.

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team currently holds ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 13 points while in the Drivers’ Championship, Leclerc is in P14 (11 points), while Marcus Ericsson is in P17 (2 points).

Marcus Ericsson
C37 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Result: 13th. Start on supersoft tyres, after 35 laps change to ultrasoft tyres

“I am quite happy with my race. It was a tough weekend and having started after only running in FP1 and qualifying, we did a good job in getting on the pace during the race. I made a good start and I was able to evade the incident on the first lap and to gain positions. After that, I struggled with the balance of the car and didn’t advance as well as we hoped to. In the second half of the race, the car felt much better and things were running more smoothly. The tyres were working better, and I closed the gap to the competitors ahead. We also had a very fast pit stop again. Now, we have to make sure that we understand what happened at the beginning of the race and come back even stronger in Austria next week.”

Charles Leclerc
C37 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
Result: 10th. Start on ultrasoft tyres, after 31 laps change to supersoft tyres

“Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome of this weekend. I had a great qualifying result yesterday and felt confident in the car. Having scored another point for the team during the race today feels great. It was fun to drive, and I had some good fights with the drivers around me. We are moving in a positive direction and improving our performance week by week. I really look forward to seeing what is possible next weekend.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal

“It has been a positive weekend for us. We had good pace in qualifying and increased our pace step by step. Today, both of our drivers fought in the midfield during the race, and we are making good progress as a team. It is important for us to keep pushing and stay in the fight with our direct competition in the races ahead. We feel confident for the next Grand Prix in Austria.”

Photos: Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team - 2018 FIA F1 World Championship

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Photos: Sauber F1 Team / © 2018 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed