Alfa Romeo's name is back in Formula 1 and will start from P17 and P18 on the grid for tomorrow's season opening Australian Grand Prix after the Sauber F1 Team's drivers both improved overnight to haul themselves off the bottom of the timesheets during today's qualifying session in Melbourne.
Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc will start side-by-side from P17 and P18, respectively, and both drivers gave it their all to haul the very visually uncomfortable looking Sauber C37 Ferrari up and off the back row where they had languished after the opening day's free practice sessions.
The drivers had both complained that the new car was "unpredictable" during the pre season tests in Barcelona and that form continued into the Melbourne weekend as the team looks to get to grips with its radical new racecar.
After a morning marked with heavy rainfall, the third free practice session gave the teams a chance to complete some laps on wet and intermediate tyre compounds and with the sun coming out in the afternoon, and in more representative running conditions, during qualifying the team made a small step forward.
Tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix will bring the usual long and demanding race with the weather forecast still unpredictable and it will denote the return of the Alfa Romeo name to F1 in a major capacity for the first time in three decades.
Marcus Ericsson
C37 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Qualifying: 17th in Q1 (1:24.556 min / ultrasoft tyres)
3rd practice: 3th (1:28.890 min / ultrasoft tyres / 14 laps)
“The work done overnight by the engineers on track and at the headquarters in Switzerland paid off. All in all it was a good qualifying today. We have made good progress since yesterday when we were quite a long way off the competition. We should be proud of the work that we have put in since then because it made a big difference.
"We are still not where we want to be, but today we were really close to Q2. We do have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are in the fight which is nice to see. Overall, I am happy with the progress and I look forward to the first race of the season”
Charles Leclerc
C37 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Qualifying: 18th in Q1 (1:24.636 min / ultrasoft tyres)
3rd practice: 16th (1:36.448 min / intermediate tyres / 12 laps)
“I had my first qualifying in Formula 1 today – so overall, it was an exciting day. We had a wet free practice session followed by a dry qualifying, which was not ideal as I could not practice for what lay ahead. In qualifying, I made a small error in turn 4 which cost us Q2 – a shame, but it is the first round of the season, so it was still a positive learning experience.
"Now, my focus is on making improvements going forward. Tomorrow, I will take part in my first Formula 1 race. I look forward to it very much.”
Photos: Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team - 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship
