For Alfa Romeo, the 2022 Formula 1 season got off to a brilliant start, getting both of its cars into the points zone. Valtteri Bottas finished sixth, while his teammate Guanyu Zhou also picked up a point by finishing tenth.
The pace in Saudi Arabia was also very good, with Bottas making it to Q3 but dropping out in the race. Last weekend in Melbourne , none of the Swiss team’s drivers managed to make it to the final session of qualifying.
The Finn made the decision to use a smaller rear wing after the removal of the fourth DRS zone and in the race he was stuck for a few laps behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, but still climbed back to eighth, while Zhou , crossed the finish line in eleventh position, outside the points.
Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur believes the car’s pace was just as good as in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but admitted they took “a step back in qualifying. I think we failed in Q2”.
“Q1 was very good, we were sixth. And the race pace was also excellent. The problem is that we lost too much time fighting on the track, especially behind Stroll .” But overall I’m very happy with the pace, including Zhou ‘s, because it was really good.”
“I think it was a good weekend for us, along the same lines as the top two. We just have to be a bit more efficient in Q2 to start in a better position, that detail alone will change our weekend,” he said. the team manager.
Alfa Romeo trusts the next F1 2022 races
Although the results did not reflect his actual performance, Bottas ‘ points keep Alfa Romeo in sixth place in the constructors’ championship, just ahead of Haas and behind McLaren, who moved up to fourth thanks to their result at Albert Park.
Fred Vasseur admitted that the team was “a little worried” about how they would fare in Melbourne, but after seeing their good race pace, they have gained confidence: “I’m a little bit more confident for the next two or three races. because we also have good updates that will come soon. It looks good, “concluded the Alfa Romeo .
