2019 FIA Formula One Grand Prix de Monaco – Qualifying – Saturday

Weather: FP3: sunny, 20-21.4°C air, 32.5-36.5°C track; QF: sunny, 21-22.2°C air, 40.3-44.7°C track

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG:
“It’s not what we’ve expected, especially after we had been near or at the front of the midfield until this afternoon. We made a step forward after FP3, Q1 was also quite good, but then other teams clearly found something more, so we need to understand how to close the gap in the race. Overtaking is hard around here and we are starting in a difficult position. We will need to find a strategy to make up some ground and hope other things go our way. The weather could be a surprise and we need to keep our noses clean and make the most of every opportunity.”

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
3rd practice: 9th / 1:12.308 (27 laps) / QF: 14th / 1:11.993 (21 laps)
“We were just not fast enough, it’s as simple as that. We managed to do our fastest lap of the weekend in qualifying, but the other cars improved a lot more than we did. We struggled with the balance of the car. When I had grip at the front, the rear went and when I sorted out the rear then I wasn’t comfortable with the front.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
3rd practice: 6th / 1:12.170 (23 laps) / QF: 15th / 1:11.976 (22 laps)
“I don’t really know what happened in qualifying. We had showed our potential with P6 in FP3 and we didn’t change anything on the car. The grip just was not there and we don’t know why. It is really disappointing because we were very strong in all sessions and now we are P15. It is quite difficult to overtake around here but the weather can be unpredictable, so we will see.”