Alfa Romeo drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou battled for qualification for the qualifying final of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but set twelfth and thirteenth fastest times. The team is satisfied with the starting positions and is confident of taking points.
Valttery Bottas (12th): “A pretty easy qualifier for us. From twelfth place we will certainly strive to earn points. I’m pretty happy with my laps and it’s nice to see how Chou pushed me forward. We came a little short to reach the final, but the battle in the middle group is very tight and anything can happen.
Based on what we’ve seen in testing, we have good pace for the distance of the race. It will be interesting to see what effect the rubber degradation will have on different cars. It is difficult to predict how the race will go, but we will do everything we can to get the best chance.”
Guanyu Zhou (13th): “Even outside the top ten I feel we have the potential to regain multiple positions in the race. Last year we were able to go higher and I see no reason why we can’t do it again tomorrow.
Once again a tough fight awaits us, but the goal is to earn points. Judging by the training pace, we are in the battle for places in the top ten, but for that you have to put all the parts together. Today we were very close, but not enough. The most important fight is tomorrow, and I’m sure we will succeed.”
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director of the Sauber Group and spokesperson for the Alfa Romeo F1 Team: “Today’s result is a good step forward, on the basis of which we can compete for points. We are pleased with how we handled qualifying – both riders and the whole team did a great job with the task.
We expected an incredibly tight fight in the mid group and today’s results confirm this. There are minimal gaps between the cars and even a tenth can separate several positions. We didn’t manage to make it to the final, but we will still fight for the points.
Now the focus is on Sunday – to build a race plan and make the most of the good pace over the long distance, which we have shown in testing and practice. I am confident that we will perform well and deliver results.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
