Valtteri Bottas and Alfa Romeo hope to build on the momentum from Bahrain at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The opening race of the 2022 Formula 1 season saw the two teams who struggled most last year at the head of the midfield, as Haas finished fifth with Kevin Magnussen, ahead of Bottas in sixth.
Rookie Zhou Guanyu also capitalised on the late problems for Red Bull to claim a point on debut in P10, becoming the 66th F1 driver to do so.
“Starting the season with two cars in the points is a great feeling,” Alfa Romeo boss Fred Vasseur commented. “And to be back on track within a week allows us to channel this enthusiasm and momentum into hopefully another good result.
That was a good weekend. All those in agreement? pic.twitter.com/y0Ox2CGNMD
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) March 21, 2022
“I was impressed, but not surprised, by how the team approached the weekend and by the level of confidence we had in our means. We know the whole team worked well during the year leading to this and we are eager to show the world what we can do.”
With several big teams also making a slow start to the new season, however, Vasseur knows Alfa must maximise their potential now.
“There is a clear feeling we have a competitive car and a determined pair of drivers, and this is boosting morale for everyone in the team,” he added.
“However, we are under no illusion about the challenge ahead: we saw how close the field is in Bahrain and how competitive qualifying and the race are.
“We know we need to be at the top of our game and deliver another good weekend: if we do that, having cars in the points is a realistic prospect.”
Thumbs up for another race weekend ahead ?#VB77 #F1 #SaudiGP #Jeddah@alfa_romeo @alfaromeoorlen pic.twitter.com/GDaciWUEc3
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) March 24, 2022
While many thought Bottas’ decision to join Alfa from Mercedes would be a substantial backwards step, it has so far proven not to be the case with the Finn actually starting alongside former teammate Lewis Hamilton on the Bahrain grid.
And Valtteri is keen for the team to keep their current advantage for as long as possible.
“It’s nice to be back in the car soon after a good result,” he said of this weekend’s race in Jeddah. “It gives us the chance to build on the strong performance we showed last weekend and fix the things that can be improved.
“It’s still early days in the season and we expect the balance on track to shift backwards and forwards as teams bring updates, but we are not standing still either and we are determined to stay on top of this curve.
“We are going in the right direction and Saudi Arabia will be another race in which we can fight for a good result: the track has undergone some changes to make it even quicker than it was last year.
“I am looking forward to driving the new layout and see if that suits us.”