Comunicato STELLANTIS
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake endured a challenging Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix, with the team struggling in the mixed weather conditions which affected both the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint Race. Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas finished 19th and 20th in the Sprint, after a complicated Shootout compromised by low track temperatures.
Today’s results do not reflect the team’s true potential; all efforts, now, will go onto analysing what didn’t work, as learnings for future races. Tomorrow will be a new day, and both drivers will have the chance to improve their positions and fight for a place in the top ten.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “First of all, our thoughts today go to Dilano van ‘t Hoff. We want to send our deepest condolences to his family and his friends; motorsport is more than a community, it’s a family, one where we share passion and sacrifices, and when we lose a member of our family, a young driver who still had so much to achieve, we lose a part of ourselves. As per our performance, today was a disappointing one for the team, one that doesn’t reflect where we really stand. We struggled in these weather conditions, and a lack of grip and of tyre temperature didn’t allow us to extract the maximum from our package. We tried everything in today’s sprint to get any possible opportunity that could have arisen, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out our way. What is important, now, is to understand what we are missing compared to the other teams and improve ourselves in order to close the gap. We must not lose our focus, as an important race awaits us tomorrow: there are always several opportunities to be taken, and points to be scored. We are determined to change the story of this weekend, and we are ready to give it all, working hard to try and maximise every chance.”
Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
SQ1: 19th / 1:07.291 (9 laps)
Sprint: 20th
Fastest lap: 1:16.758 (Lap 22)
Tyres: New Intermediate (24 Laps)
“We decided to take a gamble with the tyres today; it didn’t work out in the end, but I still think it was worth trying, as we had nothing to lose from where I was starting. Towards the final laps, we opted to stay out as everyone else pitted, in case anything happened. I found myself at the back of a train for a while, and in terms of pace, we have seen it was pretty close. Today has been quite tough, but tomorrow is a new day, and our starting position will be slightly better; we have managed to progress through the grid from there already, and that will be the goal again, hopefully putting up some good battles on track and getting back into the points.”
Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
SQ1: 16th / 1:07.062 (9 laps)
Sprint: 19h
Fastest lap: 1:11.305 (Lap 22)
Tyres: New Intermediate (17 Laps) – Used Soft (7 Laps)
“Today hasn’t been our day; conditions have been quite tricky in all the sessions, and that didn’t help our cause. I struggled with a lack of grip for the first part of the sprint; it then slightly improved when I changed for the slick tyres, but ultimately didn’t make a major difference as my race was already quite compromised. As a team, we’ll need to regroup and analyse all details to put the focus on handling such weather conditions better. Tomorrow should be slightly drier, and could help us in improving our position at the start. I think the pace we showed today wasn’t our real one, and there’s more to be extracted from our package: we’ll need to execute a good race, in order to maximise every opportunity and hopefully get back into the top ten.”
