Alfa Romeo Boss Explains How Failed Talks with Andretti Affected Driver Decision Making

Next season Alfa Romeo will have a whole new driver line up. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi will part ways with the Swiss-based team to make for Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.

Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur had earlier spoken about the future of the drivers in the team but had to delay the announcement as the discussion was still going on.

Alfa Romeo’s boss reveals why the driver announcement was delayed

It is no secret that Giovinazzi’s seat was the most talked about in Formula One for a period of time. It was still unclear whether the Italian driver would stay on the grid or not. Now, Vasseur reveals the reason why the decision to announce Bottas’s teammate for 2022 had to be postponed.

Speaking to Christian Menath in an exclusive interview with Motorsport. magazin, he said, “It is no secret that the company was in talks with some investors and that would not have been a game-changer, but could have been a new situation and we postponed the decision a bit.”

Formula One F1 – Dutch Grand Prix – Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands – September 4, 2021 Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica during practice REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

“But shortly after the end of the discussions with this potential investor, we have gone ahead again. We would not have postponed it to the last Formula 2 event now. We were in Spa, Monza and Sochi. Then there were the discussions with the investor and subsequently we advanced the whole thing in a week.” (Translated fr0m Italian via Google)

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Can the current Alfa Romeo end their partnership on a high?

The Swiss-based team have had a disappointing season so far. As it stands, they currently sit in the ninth spot in the championship with just eleven points to their name.

Formula One F1 – Mexico City Grand Prix – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, Mexico – November 7, 2021 Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in action during the race REUTERS/Henry Romero

However, they haven’t lost hope as there are still two more races to go before the end of the season. This would be the final season that Kimi and Antonio are teammates. Hence,  the duo would push themselves to the limit to grab as many points as possible with the hopes of getting ahead in the championship.

What are your predictions as the Alfa Romeo duo prepares for the final two races of the season? Let us know in the comments below.

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