Bottas: We could fight for higher positions

The Alfa Romeo racers at Imola performed well in qualifying with Valtteri Bottas reaching the final and showing 8th place, while Formula 1 debutant Guanyu Zhou finished 14th in the second session after being prevented from improving due to renewed rain .

Frederic VasseurTeam Principal: “Before qualifying, we set ourselves the task of getting at least one car in the second session and the final, and this task was completed.

Both riders were comfortable behind the wheel despite difficult conditions and performed well in these conditions. Zhou had an impressive first session but was unlucky with red flags in the second and failed to improve, although he was able to compete for the top ten.

Valtteri made it to the final and looked like he could count on a top six finish, but unfortunately was prevented from doing so due to a technical issue, which we are now dealing with. Nevertheless, the 8th position is also a good result. With Zhou in 14th place, we can expect points in the sprint on Saturday and a fairly high position on the grid on Sunday.”

Valtteri Bottas (8th): “The session went very well, but then we had to stop the car due to a technical problem. We will continue to deal with it and I hope nothing serious happened and that we can resolve everything quickly.

It’s a shame it happened as we had the potential to compete for higher positions, but the 8th result isn’t a disaster when Saturday’s sprint is right around the corner. Tomorrow we will start from a good position, so we can fight and expect to regain a few places for Sunday’s race.

Guanyu Zhou (14th): “I’m happy with how we worked today: already in the first session we were in the top five, which is good, as qualifying was preceded by a single practice and I had very little time to adapt. conform to such conditions.

There was a chance to make it to the final, but on my first attempt in the second session, I had some problems with the tires warming up, then red flags appeared on the track and it started to rain. Therefore, there was simply no chance to leave for a second attempt.

Despite this, I am still very happy that I went back to the second session. Usually we are stronger in the race and I hope we can recover in tomorrow’s sprint.

On a dry track we have a good chance, but it is impossible to predict with certainty what the weather will be like here. But I am ready for all circumstances: so far everything is going well and I hope that tomorrow we can continue on the same footing.