Alfa Romeo arrived in Australia with the aim of continuing its good start to the season, after finishing sixth with Valtteri Bottas in Bahrain and having hit Q3 in Saudi Arabia before retiring in the race.
His teammate, Zhou Guanyu, scored a point on his F1 debut in Bahrain, giving the team its first double points finish since the 2020 Imola race.
But neither driver made it to Q3 in Australia, ending a streak of 103 qualifying in the top 10 for the Finn, who explained that the mistake was likely to have been fitting a smaller rear wing after he the fourth DRS zone has been removed.
Bottas lost a lot of time to overtake Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, but was then able to finish the race in eighth place, while Zhou was close to the points, finishing in 11th place.
Team principal Vasseur believes that the pace in the race was in line with what was seen between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and that the only session below expectations was Q2.
“It was a step back in qualifying, I think we missed Q2,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com. “But Q1 was very good. We were sixth and the race pace was very good. The problem is that we lost too much time on the track, especially behind Lance Stroll.”
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42
Photo by: Alfa Romeo
“But overall I’m very happy with the pace, also with Zhou’s, because he did very well.”
“I think it’s a good weekend for us, on the same line as the top two. We should have just been a little more efficient in Q2 probably. If we had started in a better position, our weekend would have been different. Overall, I think that we had a good weekend “.
Bottas ‘tally of points allowed Alfa to remain sixth in the Constructors’ championship, overtaking Haas after McLarens moved up in the standings thanks to fifth and sixth places in Melbourne.
Vasseur admitted that Alfa Romeo was a little worried ahead of the Australian trip, which actually gave further confirmation of the C42’s good potential.
“I am a little more confident for the next two races, because we also have some good updates in the pipeline,” he said. “And they look good.”
#Alfa #Romeo #qualifying #hid #good #pace #race