Guanyou Zhou earns points for the second time in his career

In Montreal, for the second time this season, the Alfa Romeo team scored points with two cars. Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou finished eighth and ninth, but after a penalty from Fernando Alonso they each recovered one place. For Zhou, the race in Canada was the second in his career in which he scored points.

Frederic Vasseur, team leader: “The team has achieved a good result – we can be pleased with our performance. Valtteri and Zhou had a great race and points, a nice reward after several tough weekends. The result shows the team spirit – we didn’t give up and returned to the fight in Canada.

I can’t fault my riders – they performed well and made no mistakes. Valtteri took full advantage of the safety car advantage, while Zhou showed mature aerobatics and returned to the points.

The mechanics did a great job during the double pit stop. Thanks to teamwork, we have achieved results. This gives us confidence to continue the battle in the middle group.”

Valtteri Bottas (7th): “We can be satisfied with the result of the race and our pace. It’s always nice to score points with two cars after some difficult stages, but the most important thing is that we fought against rivals and got back to the level we showed at the start of the season.

My race turned out to be quite simple: I started on hard tires and then everything ran perfectly for me. The moment of departure from the safety car turned out to be perfect for me – as if I had received an unexpected gift! I am happy with the result and happy for Zhou. He had a fast pace and last weekend gave his confidence a boost.”

Guanyu Zhou (8th): “Good weekend for me and the team. I am very happy with eighth place – at the moment this is my best result in Formula 1.

On Sunday we did everything right – both on the track and on the command bridge with a strategy. I was stuck behind Lance Stroll for a while, but nevertheless we had a clean weekend, which progressed constantly. We managed to get the most out of the car, unleash its potential and finish in the top ten after a few disappointing races – a nice reward.

I don’t have much experience on the Canadian track, but on Saturday we managed to cope with the difficult conditions and in the race we had a high pace. I knew I could compete for points – and I did. I am very happy for everyone in the team – we deserved this result, because we have made progress in recent weeks. I look forward to continuing to fight in the next races.”