02/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake endured a difficult weekend on the Styrian mountains, with no points scored at the end of a challenging Sprint event.
In the main Sunday race, Zhou Guanyu finished 14th, while team-mate Valtteri Bottas crossed the finish line in 16th place, after a first lap contact compromised his hopes to climb back the ever-tight field.
A tough event for Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake: the team will now regroup, before heading to Silverstone for the second and final leg of this double header, where it's set to bring upgrades to make a leap forward, aiming to regain competitiveness and getting back into the battle for the top ten.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today's race has, unfortunately, been in line with our performances this weekend; we have made a step back, compared to previous races, and of course we will need to analyse this over the next few days. At the same time, our focus now goes onto the next race in Silverstone, for the final leg of this back-to-back: we are bringing an important upgrade there, which can hopefully improve our performance. The fight in the field is very tight, and we have been aware of this since the beginning of the season, so every tenth can make a difference. Next weekend's race will be important for us, so we must not lose our focus: we need to keep working, and come prepared to Silverstone, in order to promptly react and get back to the positions we deserve. I want to thank all the team, as well as Ferrari, for the job done this weekend: although it has been a difficult one, everyone has been working hard all together, both trackside and back home in Hinwil, trying to maximise any chance. We need to keep pushing, and not lose our confidence: there are still several races in front of us, and we'll be ready to fight for every single point."
Valtteri Bottas: "I got some damage on the front wing in a Turn One contact, unfortunately, which made me lose ground on my first stint. That compromised the rest of my race as, with such a tight field, it was pretty much impossible to recover. Overall, we have been lacking pace this weekend, this circuit certain hasn't suited us as much as in recent races. Nevertheless, we are meant to bring new parts to Silverstone next week, and they are meant to make a difference in our performance. We have seen it with our main competitors, how upgrades have been improving their pace, and hopefully, that will be our case, too, to get back in the fight for the top ten right away."
Zhou Guanyu: "Unfortunately, this weekend we haven't been as competitive as we wanted, and the top ten ended up being out of our reach. I had a decent start, today, and it seemed like I could've moved forward, but then the Safety Car came in just a couple of laps after I had to pit to remove a tear-off from my rear brake duct, and that ended up not helping us. Overall, our pace hasn't been the same we had showed recently. There is surely some work to do, looking into the next races, and we're also meant to bring new upgrades in Silverstone next week. Hopefully, they'll allow us to make a step forward, and improve again our place in the standings."
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.