Valtteri Bottas: I’m sure we can bounce back

The Austrian weekend is not an easy one for Alfa Romeo, dealing with the forced replacement of the power plant on Valtteri Bottas’ car and failed qualifying in his partner’s case. In addition, Guanyu Zhou’s position only deteriorated just before the start of Saturday’s sprint. However, the team hopes to recover in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Frederic VasseurTeam Principal: “Today both our drivers showed good pace and we have prepared positions that will allow us to fight for points in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Valtteri reacted great, avoiding a collision right in front of him at the start and he managed to get close to the top ten. He has made good progress, although he will have to start from the last row tomorrow, as his car’s engine was replaced this weekend.

Zhou performed very well, after starting from the pit lane he was able to climb to 14th position and showed very good speed. In general, we have recovered well after all the problems from Saturday, and if we can repeat tomorrow the pace we were able to do today, then he is very capable of claiming points.

I’m sure both drivers will have their say on Sunday and I can’t wait to see how things unfold in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.”

Valtteri Bottas (10th): “It was a good race, with interesting duels, but as the sprint distance is short, we didn’t have time to rise above tenth place. Too bad, because in this race only the first eight get points.

In the first laps we had some problems, the bike didn’t work perfectly, but in the end our pace was better than the Haas, despite the fact that we still lacked speed on the straights. Probably due to a too high angle of attack of the wings.

But tomorrow a very different scenario awaits us, as we have to start from the last row. The race promises to be long, but I’m sure we can bounce back. We have the pace and I have no doubt that we will be able to make it into the top ten because you never know in advance how events will develop.”

Guanyu Zhou (14th): “On the way to the starting field just before the first corner, the engine suddenly cut out. It was very strange, it’s the first time for me. We had to go through the whole procedure to start it, and it took some time, but luckily we were able to get the car running again.

The rest of the race gave me pleasure, it was nice to return to the fight after the accident that happened last Sunday. I could confidently attack and push forward.

We showed good pace and I’m happy with how the car fared today. I am also happy with the starting position in tomorrow’s race – after qualifying we were counting on this. We need to find out what happened during the formation circle, but I have a confident attitude for tomorrow’s race. I think we have a good chance to fight for the points.”