30/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake undertook Friday qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, defining the grid for Sunday's race.
Valtteri Bottas claimed a spot in Q2 by setting the 14th fastest time; Zhou Guanyu showed promising pace as well, and was on a mission to join his team-mate in the top 15, but last-lap traffic and a loss of tyre temperature had him miss the cut, eventually ending up in 17th place.
The race weekend will continue tomorrow, with the standalone Shootout Qualifying and Sprint race bringing the action among the Austrian mountains.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "I think we extracted the maximum we could get from our package today, even though I reckon Zhou had the potential to get into Q2 as well - unfortunately, traffic didn't help him. Today, we once again got confirmation that we need to work to further improve our qualifying pace, as well as getting the most out of soft tyres; our places on Sunday's starting grid are not ideal, but we have shown in previous races how we are able to recover positions throughout the race thanks to our long run pace, the work done on the pitwall, and the effort put in by our drivers. Our work will go on analysing this session, as there is always something to be learned. Tomorrow is a new day, and it will be somewhat of a standalone day: still, we'll need to execute a perfect Saturday, and place ourselves in the hunt for points."
Valtteri Bottas: "Of course, we were targeting something more than Q2, but on the positive, we have seen how margins are very small once again. Overall, it's been a relatively normal qualifying session, although I spun at the start of Q1: I got too close to a Red Bull who didn't see me, and I lost the back end. It wasn't ideal, but I thankfully managed to get back underway with the session. We are still lacking a bit of performance on the single lap, and this is what we'll be putting our focus on overnight. Tomorrow is a new day, and Sunday as well: there are still lots of opportunities for us to improve. Our target, as always, is to get into the points, and that's what we'll be working towards."
Zhou Guanyu: "I feel like where we are today doesn't really reflect our performances: I reckon we had the pace for more. Towards the end of Q1, I found myself at the back of the pack and stood still for over 10 seconds, losing a lot in sector one due to the tyres not being warm enough. I still managed to slightly recover in sector three, but that didn't end up making enough of a difference. Nevertheless, I feel like the potential was definitely there today, so I cannot say I am completely satisfied with this session. Now, our focus will be on tomorrow, especially on the Shootout: hopefully, we'll be in the fight for some points. As for the the car, we have been able to find a reasonably decent balance, it overall felt okay. I still think we have the potential to be moving forward tomorrow, and on Sunday as well: I am confident we have a chance to climb up the field, and get into the points."
Check out our Friday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.