Bottas: The car lacks speed and grip

Alfa Romeo racers failed to qualify in Zandvoort – Guanyu Zhou set the fourteenth time and his partner Valtteri Bottas did not leave the first part, finishing 16th. The team admits that with such starting positions it will be difficult to count on a place in the top ten.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “Today’s result is about as expected on such a difficult weekend. Yesterday we had problems finding the balance of the car and although we were able to take a step forward today, it was not enough to reach the final.

From fourteenth and sixteenth position it won’t be easy to fight on a narrow and winding course, but there is a long race ahead and we have to be ready to take every chance. Start and strategy will be key. We will do our best and see what we can achieve.”

Guanyu Zhou (14th): “I think we made a good step forward in qualifying today, especially compared to the results of the third practice, when it looked like we wouldn’t be able to get out of the first part.

As expected, the battle in the middle group turned out to be very tight, but I’m quite happy with the result. I think we squeezed the maximum and therefore thank the team on the radio. We still lack the pace compared to other teams.

Overtaking on a track like this is difficult, but I hope we can compete in the race.”

Valtteri Bottas (16th): “The car made a good impression, but we lack the speed and grip to take a higher starting position. We tried all the settings, but the solutions we found were not fast enough. We thought the Soft tires would only be enough for one fast lap in qualifying, and we worked accordingly.

Difficult weekend, but before the race. There is no doubt that it will be difficult, but we will do our best and see what we can do.”