Alfa Romeo Racing’s time on track has ceased until the opening race in Bahrain in just 12 days.
The team ran a successful weekend overall, with Kimi Räikkönen racking up the highest lap count across the board on day three.
After 166 laps complete by the Finn brings the total brings the team’s overall mileage for the three days of testing to 422 laps, equalling 2,283.86km.
According to the team, Kimi’s programme for the day was the same as that of Antonio Giovinazzi from a day earlier.
With 166 laps to Kimi's name, today’s total brings our overall mileage for the three days of testing to 422 laps – 2,283.86km 🏃https://t.co/SBalZ29l9k
— Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (@alfaromeoracing) March 14, 2021
A busy morning consisted of long runs and race simulation, followed by an afternoon centered on performance runs.
Kimi managed to complete the team’s entire schedule for the final day on track, meaning the team now has access to a plethora of information ahead of the first race.
Speaking about the progress made this weekend, Jan Monchaux, Technical Director said:
“Another very productive test day – possibly the most productive of the three – to bring our pre-season to an end. It was a flawless session in which we managed to achieve even more than we had set out to do: I think 422 laps over three days is a new record for our team.
“Kimi’s programme for today was similar to the one we had yesterday with Antonio and we carried out some very good work on both our race trim and qualifying performance.
“It was important to have a positive outcome today as the conditions were probably the most representative of what we will experience during the race weekend.
Kimi’s location: on track.
Kimi’s status: going fast.The final day of pre-season testing is well and truly underway! pic.twitter.com/Anx06CSU4U
— Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (@alfaromeoracing) March 14, 2021
“The results are encouraging but we’re not getting carried away: we know there is still a lot of work to do.
“This was just a friendly game: just a milestone on the long road that is the 2021 season. We feel ready to start the championship and we feel better prepared than last year.
“The car was reliable throughout the week and we improved on the weaknesses we had in 2020. Now we have ten days to study all the data we have gathered and find a bit more performance on both the single lap and over a race distance.
“Everyone will have raised their game by the time we’re back here in two weeks’ time and we’ll need to be ready.”
Formula One will return to the Bahrain International Circuit to kick off the 2021 campaign on March 28 when fans and teams alike will get the first, real indications about the pecking order.
