09/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN showed good pace in today's Austrian Grand Prix Sprint Race, with Valtteri Bottas finishing in P10 and Zhou Guanyu making an impressive recovery from a pit lane start to 14th place.
With Valtteri poised to start from the back due to a power unit change, Zhou will gain another position to start in P13, with a very good shot at the points.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Today saw both our drivers show good pace, and we have set ourselves for a chance of points in tomorrow's race. Valtteri had great reflexes to avoid a tangle just in front of him, and was able to close in to the top ten ahead: he made good progress, although he will have to start from the back tomorrow, having changed the power unit earlier in the weekend. Zhou's performance was remarkable, going from the pit lane to 14th at the flag while showing really good speed. It was a really good comeback after a difficult Saturday: if we are able to replicate tomorrow the speed we had today, he will be well within the battle for the points. I am confident we still have a role to play with both cars in tomorrow's race and I'm looking forward to seeing how the race unfolds."
Valtteri Bottas: "It was a good drive with some nice battling, but we ran out of laps to make it higher than tenth - it's a shame the points only go down to eighth! We struggled a bit in the beginning, with a slight engine issue, but in the end we had better pace than the Haas, even though we were still a bit too slow on the straights - probably a bit too much wing. Tomorrow should be a completely different kind of day, starting from the back: it will be a longer race but I am confident we can make up ground. The pace is there and I absolutely think we can make it to the points: you never know what can happen."
Zhou Guanyu: "At the end of the formation lap, right before the last corner, my engine suddenly switched off. That was very strange, and the first time happening to me; I had to do the whole switch-off procedure, and that took a bit longer but luckily, we got going again. Apart from that, the race has been very enjoyable for me, it was a good comeback from last week's crash, and I managed to confidently attack and move up the grid. We showed very strong pace overall, and I am quite happy with how the car was performing today. I am happy with my starting position for tomorrow's race, it's what we were aiming for after qualifying. We need to understand what happened today in the formation lap, but I am confident for tomorrow, I reckon we have a good chance to battle for points."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spielberg here.