Zhou: I literally had to fight the machine

The Alfa Romeo team had to admit after Saturday’s sprint that it was a very bad day for them today, as their riders took the last two places. Before returning to the Austrian circuit on Sunday, the reasons for such a serious delay must be analyzed in detail.

Guanyu Zhou (19th): “The first 15 laps on intermediate tires were extremely difficult. I don’t know for what reason, but the grip was at a very low level. It was so heavy that I couldn’t even hold onto the cars that were all the way in the back of the pack.

I literally had to fight with my own car, so it was difficult to move forward. But when we switched to slicks, the pace came back to a normal level and although it’s clear we weren’t particularly fast, we kept pace with the rest. But in the first part of the sprint we drove too slowly.

Since the pace on the slicks was at a fairly acceptable level, and the forecast promises dry weather, that is somewhat reassuring for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. After all, if it starts raining again, we have cause for great concern. Together with the team we have to analyze everything and find out why we are struggling in such weather.

Let’s see what we can achieve on Sunday, because I believe my 17th starting position doesn’t match the pace our car is really capable of – it still allows you to fight for higher positions.

I’m sure we can make progress, especially if we develop good tactics.”

Valttery Bottas (20th): “We had nothing to lose and decided before the start: why not try starting on slicks? At least we made such an attempt, and when the rain stopped, the track would start to dry out quickly.

But the rain kept pouring down from the sky, so the slicks weren’t suitable for these conditions. Because of the visit to the pits I lost at least one position. But it was still worth a try. And over the course of the race we also used reasonable tactics trying to hold on as long as possible on the intermediate rubber because if something had happened in front of us we would have been in a better position.

If we talk about tomorrow’s race, I think if you start from 14th position it is quite possible to fight for points. We will try to come up with some kind of tactical move, and then we will try to implement it clearly. Maybe we have a chance to get into the top ten.”