F1 | Bottas: “My concern is finishing the GP. The C42? Good”

AlFa Romeo Racing is the team that in the last day of pre-season 2022 Formula 1 tests has ringed the highest number of laps: a total of 150 between those made in the morning by Guanyu Zhou and those that instead managed to take home Valtteri Bottas in the afternoon.

The C42, like almost all single-seaters of this generation, showed strengths and weaknesses. The latter insinuated a worm in Bottas’ mind and more than one fear: that of not being able to complete the entire distance of a grand prix.

Yesterday the former Mercedes driver did a race simulation, but there are still setbacks that worry the drivers and the team. Adding to fears is the fact that the first grand prix of the 2022 Formula 1 season will be held in less than a week.

“I will be more confident when we talk to the team next week and when I hear that all the problems we have have been 100% understood and we will make sure they cannot be repeated in the future,” said Valtteri Bottas at the end of the last day. testing in Bahrain.

“At the moment my biggest concern is being able to complete the race distance, because we had different types of problems during the Barcelona and Bahrain tests. We were able to solve them and we just hope there are no new problems coming.” .

Bottas is happy with the sensations received by the C42 during the Sakhir tests. The car seems to respond well and also be a valid weapon to make progress in the Constructors’ Championship.

“In terms of performance, my feeling is that the team has made a clear step forward compared to last year and that’s good to see.”

“We went much better than we did in Barcelona. Plus I finally had the right feeling of the car. Especially in the early part of the afternoon I managed to do some really solid long runs and I didn’t have any negative feelings.”

“I was really starting to enjoy the car, both with a lot of fuel and less fuel in the tank. The sensations were good.”

“Of course I would have liked to do more laps, but I still feel ready. But we have to make sure we learn from mistakes and problems. This is the most important aspect, also because next weekend we will have little time to fine-tune the balance of the car. ahead of the race “, concluded the Finn.