Raikkonen determined to put recent setbacks behind him

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Kimi Raikkonen says he is heading to Singapore this weekend determined to put recent poor outings in Belgium and Italy behind him.

Raikkonen suffered a first turn collision at Spa-Francorchamps that wrecked his race. And in Monza he was forced to start from pit lane due to an accident in qualifying, and then handed a further penalty after the team started him on the wrong tyres.

The Alfa Romeo driver subsequently labelled his Italian Grand Prix as "a sh** weekend" and said that "it can't get worse" in Singapore.

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“Spa and Monza didn’t go well but that’s in the past,' Raikkonen insisted. "Our objective for this race doesn’t change: we need to do a good job in each session as that’s the only way to be at the front of a competitive midfield.”

Alfa Romeo has been as high in the standings as sixth place but currently finds itself in eighth behind Racing Point.

"The margins in the midfield are very small," explained team principal Frédéric Vasseur. "We need to avoid mistakes and put both cars in a position to fight for the points

“Singapore is a weekend that asks a lot from everyone in the team," he continued. "The humidity, the heat, the weird times – it’s a tough weekend but our team is ready for the challenge.

©AlfaRomeo

"We have shown we can be competitive everywhere we go and there is no reason we shouldn’t be in the mix this weekend, but we will need to do a proper job.

"On a relatively long lap like in Singapore, every detail makes a difference," he added.

At least Antonio Giovinazzi is heading into his first Singapore race on something of a high. He picked up two points in Monza, the second time he has finished in the top ten in 16 Grand prix starts to date.

“The result in Monza was a big confidence boost," he agreed. "I am looking forward to another good race in Singapore.

"Racing in the night is always special, although in the car you don’t really feel it as much. The Marina Bay track is a challenging one, with so many corners and very little margin for error.

"But I feel I am well prepared, and I am eager to get back in the car," he added.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.