Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen’s Frédéric Vasseur: “It’s been a tough day at the end of a difficult weekend”

With Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen extending their point-less streak to six consecutive races in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Dutch Grand Prix, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur has stated that despite the team making good improvements throughout the weekend, it was simply not enough to contend in the midfield battle.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu failed to make it past Q2 on Saturday, leaving both drivers with the improbable challenge of making up positions around a track which has proven to provide limited overtaking opportunities.

Both Alfa Romeo drivers opted for an aggressive strategy which would see the pair undertake their first two stints of the race on sets of soft tyres before attempting to see out the remainder of the race on a set of medium tyres.

By lap forty-three, Valtteri Bottas appeared to be on course for a challenge to the top ten but disaster would soon strike just ten laps later, as a suspected engine failure saw the Finn’s race come to an abrupt end.

The Alfa Romeo team attempted to take advantage of the safety car that ensued as a result of Bottas’ retirement but could only provide Zhou with a set of used tyres for the conclusion of the race. Zhou struggled to generate any performance from the used set of tyres and would eventually bring home his C42 car in seventeenth place.

Vasseur was keen to state that in the tightly contested midfield battle, anything but a ‘perfect race’ will result in a finish outside the points-paying positions, which he claimed was the case for the Swiss-based team today.

“It’s been a tough day at the end of a difficult weekend. We had been struggling to find pace but made some good improvements as we approached the race: unfortunately, we lost Valtteri for a suspected power unit issue, and Zhou’s race was compromised by a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

“With the midfield as close as it is, anything but a perfect race means you’re missing out on the points and this is exactly what happened. It’s been disappointing, but we have Monza next week and hopefully, we will be able to put this one behind us and do well in front of that crowd. It’s a home race for us and our title partners and we want to have a good one to get back on track.”

Credit: Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen