Frederic Wasser: It’s a shame to leave Japan without glasses

Alfa Romeo racers hoped for rain before the start, but ended up not earning points in Suzuka…

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “Despite the fast car, we didn’t make the top ten: it was very difficult to overtake, even with a speed advantage. It’s a shame to leave Japan without glasses, we have to regroup and prepare for the race in Austin.

Valtteri Bottas (15th): “At the start of the race from my starting position I saw almost nothing, so the first laps were risky. When the track dried up we were able to drive the car at a good pace, but it was very difficult to overtake today. I think everyone has a problem with that these days. It was a shame when I was stuck behind Magnussen for almost the entire race.

But there are also positive moments. Saturday we were close to the final. In two weeks in Austin we will finalize the car, I hope this will allow us to perform successfully.

Guanyu Zhou (16th): “We didn’t score any points, but we were fast. It was my first time in Suzuka and I learned a lot this weekend.

In the race the visibility was poor, at the start I turned around in the corner, I rolled backwards and tried to earn back. At the restart there were only two options: either make an immediate pit stop and switch to intermediate tires, or stay on wet tires in the hope of more precipitation. I was way behind, a lot of spray was flying my way, I felt like it was better to stay on wet tires. We did, and when we saw that the intermediate rubber is much faster, it became clear that we were wrong. Nevertheless, we tried and I left the best lap of the race for the first time in my career.

The new features we introduced this weekend work well, but take some time to get the most out of them.