Valtteri Bottas finished ninth in Sao Paulo, giving Alfa Romeo a five point lead over Aston Martin for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Bottas’ team-mate Guanyu Zhou finished thirteenth, but after being penalized by Pierre Gasly for speeding in the pit lane, he moved up to twelfth line in protocol.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “The team has done a good job, reversing the unfortunate course of the weekend and achieving the result. In the sprint and in the race we showed a good pace and we can be happy to leave Brazil and increase the lead over our closest rivals.
Our riders had a good start and Valtteri was fifth for a while. It’s a shame that the safety car nullified our advantage, but we still earned points. It’s also important that we showed good form again, like in Mexico City. This allows us to confidently prepare for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. We can fight for the points again and hopefully guarantee sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.”
Valtteri Bottas (9th): “I’m happy with the race and happy for the team. Everyone has done a great job – finishing ninth after starting from fourteenth is a good result. I could have finished higher, but the safety car played against us and robbed us of the advantage over rivals. In any case, we have earned more points than our main competitors, so we have nothing to complain about.
I’m happy with my performance – I’ve had some good fights and the car had a fast pace. I also want to thank Zhou, who has proven to be a real team player today.
In the last races we were in good shape. There is still one stage to go after which the work will be done – we are confidently awaiting the race.”
Guanyu Zhou (12th): “Overall we can be satisfied with the weekend, especially when we compare the start and finish positions. The task was to maximize the team’s potential – I’m sure we succeeded.
The race turned out to be difficult for me. At the start of the race I got a water straw in my helmet. I was able to remove it, but then there were problems with the turbine, the cause of which should be resolved before next weekend.
I went to the pits early to “cut” the opponents, but the safety car at the end made it difficult as I ran out of sets of tires. However, it is good to see that the team has earned points by strengthening their position in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the final race.”
Source: F1 News
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