Valtteri Bottas: I enjoyed the fight

Valtteri Bottas finished eighth in Melbourne, earning four key points for Alfa Romeo…

Frederic Vasseur, team principal: “It’s great that after retirement in Jeddah we finished in the top ten again and earned four points. Today the team did a great job in difficult conditions – the first time the safety car took off for us at a very wrong time, especially for Zhou. Plus, we were stuck in a chain of riders using DRS, which made it very difficult to get ahead.

We were close to earning points with two cars. The team has done a good job, we are moving in the right direction and now we will focus on preparing for Imola.”

Valtteri Bottas (8th): “I really enjoyed the race, from start to finish I fought with rivals. Thanks to the efforts of the whole team, we have earned some important points. I’m happy with the decisions we made and how we ran the race. The smaller rear wing didn’t allow much more in qualifying, but it helped a lot in the race.

I enjoyed the fight. I hope this will continue. In the next stages we will try out new items, I hope they will allow us to fight for points in every race.”

Guanyu Zhou (11th): “I’m happy with my race, but disappointed that I couldn’t score points even though I was very close to the top ten. The car was fast, but I lost a few positions to the safety car, which made it very difficult. I did my best and put all my strength into the fight, but tire wear didn’t allow me to stay ahead of Albon in the battle for tenth place.

Nevertheless, we fixed the problem that previously hindered the start. The match went well. The best result of my first three races in Formula 1 was 11th place. We must build on this success and strive to earn points in every race.”