Alonso: “Third place in the Constructors' Championship is still possible”

Before the start of Russian Grand Prix all the drivers gathered in front of the starting grid to send a message of solidarity to Jules Bianchi, and it must be said that the entire weekend of the first Grand Prix held in Sochi was somewhat subdued. As expected, overtaking was a rare commodity in today's race, this was also partly due to the limited wear of both rubber compounds made available to the teams by Pirelli. The fact is that Fernando Alonso, who started seventh, brought his F14 T to the finish line in sixth place, while Kimi Raikkonen lost one position compared to the one occupied on the grid and finished ninth.

Fernando Alonso: “Today's race reflects the progress of a weekend in which we were unable to be competitive, even though the car performed well from start to finish. The entire race was particularly demanding in terms of fuel consumption and especially in the final stages I had to save fuel. During the pit stop the front landing gear didn't work, but I think that even without this problem I would have finished in the same position, because the McLarens were faster. We tried to take risks at the start because we knew that at that moment we could gain something, but then the race pace was what we saw in recent days and it wasn't possible to do more. We haven't scored many points, but we will continue to give it our all in the next three races, because third place in the Constructors' Championship is still possible, even if at the moment the most important thing is to have good news from Jules as soon as possible."

Kimi Raikkonen: “We knew that a very demanding race awaited us and that starting from the back the comeback wouldn't be easy, but at the start we did very well if it hadn't been for the Toro Rosso who pushed me towards the wall once I got to the straight. Due to the sudden braking I was passed by several cars and there I lost all the chances of having a good race, because from then on I was always stuck behind other cars. The behavior of my car was good and with a clear track I had a good pace, but we lacked top speed to try to overtake on the straight and having to save fuel I couldn't push as I would have liked. We are aware that this year it is difficult to fight for the top positions, but we will still continue to do our best starting from the next race in Austin. The track is challenging and very interesting, I hope not to suffer from the same problems and to be able to obtain a good result. Although the thing I hope most is that all our prayers help Jules in this difficult moment."