Valtteri Bottas gave Alfa Romeo six points by finishing seventh in the Miami Grand Prix. His teammate Guanyu Zhou dropped out of the race due to a leak in the cooling system.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “Our disappointment with seventh place shows how much progress we have made this year. Today we were fast and for most of the race Valtteri was comfortably fifth behind only Red Bull and Ferrari.
However, the safety car departure eliminated Valtteri’s lead over the two Mercedes drivers. Nevertheless, six earned points is a positive result that has strengthened our position in the Constructors’ Championship, but we know we can do more.
Too bad Guanyu retired early due to a coolant leak. We are sure that if he hadn’t done this, he would have earned points too. However, it is clear that the team has chosen the right direction for the development of the machine. We know we can be competitive every weekend and will continue to fight to do better next race.”
Valtteri Bottas (7th): “I am satisfied with our result. Strong race, but the safety car departure played against us. I was fifth and kept ahead of Lewis, so a fifth place was possible, but behind the safety car this gap disappeared. George was behind us on fresh tires so it was hard to hold the position.
In an attempt to defend the position, I braked too late. Unfortunately, the idiosyncrasy of the track is such that if you go past the track you will end up on dirty asphalt and slide against the wall. I was lucky nothing broke in the car and I continued the race.
At least we managed to get some points, which are very important in the constructors’ championship. We have shown that we can compete on an equal footing with anyone in the middle group of teams. The margins are minimal, so it’s important to keep improving the car to stay ahead of this battle.”
Guanyu Zhou (retirement): “Too bad I had to retire in a situation where there was an opportunity to get a good result. I feel like we had every chance for it today. The team is investigating the cause of the descent – so far we only know about a leak in the cooling system, but it is necessary to find out and fix the cause. It’s a shame, but that’s part of racing.
My short race went well – I regained three positions and by the time the car retired it was fast. Now we have to focus on the next race. I want to make a difference and be where we need to be, but to do that we have to get all the ingredients together over the weekend.”
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
