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As the 2021 season edges closer to starting we will be looking at each F1 team ahead of the new season. Starting in alphabetical order is Alfa Romeo who have stuck with their driver lineup of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
With this being the third year of Alfa Romeo’s return to the sport since their re-branding from Sauber to Alfa Romeo, the Swiss team will be hoping of a better season in 2021 than the previous season after only managing to get eight points in the Constructor’s Championship.
Alfa Romeo
Taking over from the Sauber F1 Team for the 2019 season, the team started life in the sport in 1950 featuring for two seasons until 1951.
Then coming back to the sport in 1979 until 1985 in which Alfa Romeo stopped competing as a constructor in Formula 1.
With drivers like Juan Manuel Fangio, Ricardo Patrese and Giuseppe Farina the Alfa Romeo name has not seen a lot of glory with their best season up to the modern era coming in 1983 where they scored 18 points and finished sixth in the Constructors Championship.
Their first season back saw them score 57 points and finish eighth in the Constructors. Last season, they only managed eight points and another eighth-place finish.
They will be hoping for a better season in 2021 and competing with more of the teams in the midfield battle whereas keeping away from Haas and Williams.
Kimi Raikkonen
The oldest driver on the grid, at a tender age of 41 the Iceman continues to race in F1 for the Alfa Romeo team with the former World Champion looking to improve this season.
He’s driven for plenty of well-known teams in the sport, most significantly for Ferrari in two different spells (2007-09 and 2014-18).
Having scored 43 points and finishing 12th in the Driver’s Championship, last season was lacklustre for the Finnish driver finishing on four points and joint 16th.
Raikkonen will be looking to have a better season, but with the machinery, at his disposal, it will more likely be another season that the 41-year-old has to endure and fight with what he can.
Antonio Giovinazzi
The GP2 runner-up in 2016, Giovinazzi is embarking on his third full season in F1 after two seasons of learning and gaining valuable experience from his experienced teammate.
Having been beaten by the Finn in the Driver’s Championship in 2019 by 29 points, the Italian looked to give Raikkonen a run for his money in the 2020 campaign.
Both of them finished on four points in the end in what was a strange season for F1 fans, drivers and the whole world.
Qualifying is what let the 27-year-old down the most as he showed his speed on a Sunday but lacked it on a Saturday and he will be looking to amend that this season.
Prediction for the season
Alfa Romeo with the Ferrari engine and the right parts could have a slight chance of reaching a higher level. In the 2020 season, all engines that had been supplied by the Italian manufacturer saw the teams (Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo) perform relatively poorly.
A battle at the back of the grid may be what the outfit may have to endure for another season as they look to make changes and additions to what saw them get the 58 points back in 2019.
Raikkonen breaths F1 and is one of the more likeable characters in the F1 paddock with everyone wanting “The Iceman” to perform to his race-winning standards.
He’ll be wanting to beat Giovinazzi first and foremost but getting regular points will be the main aim. With that being said, in the machinery that the Finn is in he is unlikely to achieve that feat and will be happy with scoring more points than his total last season.
For Giovinazzi, in his third season, he needs to strongly show the team why he should be kept beyond the 2021 season.
Alfa Romeo want to be shown what the Italian is capable but similarly to Raikkonen the 27-year-old’s priority will be outperforming the Finn and improving on his tally from last season.
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