The illusion of qualification
The tenth place in qualifying by Valtteri Bottas had given hope to the Finnish driver of theAlfa Romeo to reconfirm himself also in the race, finishing it for the first time in the points since the inaugural GP of this season in Bahrain. For the former Mercedes standard bearer, however, the goal did not materialize, as well as for his teammate Zhou Guanyustarted from 14th on the grid and relegated to sixteenth position final in the race.
The mirror of the present
A round in which Bottas also fought to try and defend the last position valid for the points zone, focusing on a more aggressive strategy which included the first stint (15 laps) on the medium tires and the second on the hards. A move that, however, did not pay off, as demonstrated by 13th place at the finish: “There are some positives to take from this weekend, although there is still a lot of work to do to fight in the top ten – has explained – the start of my race was quite good: we made up some positions and got close to the points. I did my best to keep fighting and defend my position; unfortunately, however, we didn’t have the pace we had on Saturday, when we managed to be competitive over the flying lap. I think our placement reflects our current position and we must continue to work to improve. Our main goal must be to take that extra step forward to be competitive again. We will bring new parts to Imola and hopefully they will allow us to progress and get back to fighting for points. I am confident in the work we are doing as a team and I can’t wait to face the next appointments”.
Zhou hopes in Imola
A comment rather similar to that of the Chinese number 24, Zhou, who instead opted for the hard tires to use in the first stint, to then complete the race on the mediums: “We took a step forward this weekend, especially in qualifyingbut we still have to work hard to get back into the top ten on Sunday – he remarked – it was very difficult to break the DRS train and only in the course of the race did I find a little more speed and space. Let’s take Saturday’s positive result and look ahead: I know everyone is working hard at the base to make progress. I can’t wait to take advantage of the updates we will have at Imola and to race on a permanent circuit, which seems to fit our package better at the moment. Let’s keep our heads up and keep working hard.”
Back to the permanent tracks
For Alfa Romeo, therefore, the work in preparation for Imola begins, on a track which breaks the series of street circuits after Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku and precisely Miami. An opportunity that could therefore allow Alfa Romeo, arriving with new updates, to recover from eighth place in the constructors’ standings, which at the moment sees it two points behind Haas, on the contrary returning from a weekend with the 10th place conquered by Kevin Magnussen.
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