Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas

The Alfa Romeo veteran’s contract runs out at the end of this season, so if he wishes to remain in F1 it’s a good thing that his form appears to have turned a corner

“Future stars, as well as drivers already in their prime, are waiting in the wings”

It’s easy to see when a driver in Formula 1’s leading teams is succeeding or failing. The unofficial ‘Class A’squads can climb onto the podium, while the crowded midfield runners have the prizes of Q3 spots and regular points.

But at the back of the grid it’s easy to get lost in the grind to escape Q1, which in any case will leave little trace down the years. Nevertheless, for the drivers at Haas, Williams and Alfa Romeo this year, that’s the best indication of a standout performance. So far this season, George Russell has managed it four times, followed by the Haas drivers on two each.

Last weekend, Kimi Raikkonen became the first Alfa driver to escape the opening segment of qualifying in 2020, and eventually lined up 14th ahead of Renault’s Esteban Ocon. He backed up this fine achievement with 14th in the race, heading the order of the self-contained group those three squads represent. But points are what it’s all about, and so far only Kevin Magnussen and Antonio Giovinazzi have scored them from the bottom three teams.

When the race is long and largely uneventful, as last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix was, the battle becomes about finding a way to head what is effectively‘class C’.

That’s quite a long way from Raikkonen’s glory years, when he took breathtaking wins and lost championships to unreliability at Mclaren, when he did take the title at Ferrari, when he stunned the bigger teams at Lotus, and when he tried but failed to recapture the magic back at Maranello, nevertheless taking 25 further podiums and one more win in red.

He signed for what was then called Sauber at the end of 2018, after Ferrari had finally called time on his uninspiring second stint. The Sauber/alfa move made sense – Raikkonen loved racing in F1 and the team wanted someone experienced to aid its push forwards.

Last year he scored 43 points in a classic up-and-down midfield campaign, but the start of the current season has been tough. Alfa (like Haas) is suddenly hamstrung by the Ferrari engine deficit, while Williams enjoys – until the next race at least – the boost from the Mercedes power unit in qualifying.“obviously, we are too slow,”raikkonen says of Alfa’s start to 2020.

So far this season Raikkonen has had more pain than gain.

He’s losing the qualifying head to head with Giovinazzi 2-4 and, although he’s ahead 4-1 in the races they have both finished, Raikkonen’s DNF came in the season opener, where Giovinazzi finished ninth and was ahead even before the right-front wheel flew off Raikkonen’s car. Things got better at the second Red Bull Ring event, where he came home just outside the points in a much calmer overall race, and he was the lead Alfa home despite getting a silly penalty for overshooting his grid box. But the British GP was a nightmare. He had a lap-one off and was running last even before he went wide at Copse and damaged his front wing.

But since then, Raikkonen has climbed back up. He turned in a fine drive on the difficult one-stopper in the second Silverstone race, and his weekend performance at Barcelona was exceptional. He made things tough for himself with a messy opening lap to let Magnussen past, but he overcame the Haas on a two-stop strategy to get back to where he needed to be – heading Class C.

Compared to his team-mate, who was the only Class C driver on a similar strategy, Raikkonen was 0.366 seconds quicker per lap in the opening stint, which Giovinazzi reversed in the second by going 0.316s faster on average, but Raikkonen’s previously used mediums were a factor here. In the final stint on new softs, the 2007 world champion edged it – 0.085s quicker per lap. The end result was that he ultimately beat Magnussen home and Giovinazzi didn’t.

Now is a good time for Raikkonen to be hitting fine form. Although the campaign is only six races old, the year is long past its halfway point and his contract expires at the end of the season.

There are already threats to his seat. If the Racing Point/aston Martin driver wrangling means Sebastian Vettel replaces Sergio Perez, that means a younger, equally capable driver (at this stage in Raikkonen’s career at least) with massive backing is available. Perez is an attractive candidate for any team. Plus, Alfa team boss Frederic Vasseur has a long history with Nico Hulkenberg.

The other Alfa seat is set by Ferrari, which must choose whether to extend Giovinazzi’s F1 career or promote one of whichever F2 junior it so desires from Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman and

Mick Schumacher. All three are in Formula 2 title contention.

If Raikkonen can keep up his run of form and turn in starring performances such as he did at Barcelona, then he will either give Alfa a simple choice of extending his career, or a tough one if there is an outsider in contention. If he reverts to the results from the opening four races, there’s an argument to be made that he doesn’t deserve his place on the grid for a 19th season, with future stars, as well as drivers already in their prime, waiting in the wings. But Raikkonen is known for not wasting time on tasks he doesn’t enjoy, so he must decide if that is what F1 has become.

We’re not surprised to see the star names of Formula 1 collecting a full tally of points, so a reminder of a veteran’s magic is all the more welcome