Valtteri Bottas believes that the performance of the Alfa Romeo F1 team at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix has shown the potential to compete in the “best of the rest” behind the top three F1 teams.
Valtteri Bottas on the 6th grid fell out of the top 10 on the opening lap after suffering from excessive wheelspin at the start.
Still, Valtteri Bottas made up for the race, running 8th by the Red Bull Racing double retirement at the end of the race and finally taking the checkered position in 6th place.
The Alfa Romeo F1 team has recorded the best results since 2019. His debut Guanyu Zhou made it into the top 10 after Red Bull retired and scored points.
“If someone had said in advance that he would be sixth in qualifying and racing, he would have received it,” said Valtteri Bottas.
“And, in fact, putting both cars in the top 10 is a lot better than the team has been accustomed to in the last few years.”
“I think our next target is to beat Haas. They have strong cars. Still, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are a bit far apart.”
“At least we’re almost at the Best of the Rest at this point, and that’s not a bad starting point.”
Valtteri Bottas added that the Haas F1 Team was “quite strong in the race” and “I don’t think Kevin (Magnussen) would have been able to match his lap time if he had no problems” in qualifying.
Kevin Magnussen passed the qualifying in 7th place, one behind Valtteri Bottas, suffering from hydraulic problems that confused the driving plan, but finished in 6th place one before in the final.
The Alfa Romeo F1 Team is fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, scoring 9 points, one point behind the Haas F1 Team.
Category: Category: F1 / Valtteri Bottas / Alfa Romeo F1