Alessandro Alunni Bravi says Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake should still be happy to score a point in Sundays Canadian Grand Prix despite seeing another point disappear on the run from the final corner to the chequered flag.
Valtteri Bottas was involved in a great battle for the minor points paying positions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and was on course for ninth place, only for Lance Stroll to overtake him just metres from the finish.
Alunni Bravi, the Team Representative at Alfa Romeo, says the team should still be content to score points for a second consecutive race weekend – and the fourth in total during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season – and the point could make a ‘fundamental difference’ at the end of the year.
“We must be happy with the one point we scored today with Valtteri, even though it’s always a bit bitter to lose one position [to Lance Stroll] with just metres to go,” said Alunni Bravi. “Still, one point can make a fundamental difference at the end of the season, and we have now scored in two races in a row.
“I want to thank all the team for their hard work towards this result, which was not a foregone conclusion after yesterday’s qualifying session.”
Alunni Bravi says Alfa Romeo must focus on improving their performance in Qualifying, as it is making Sunday’s more difficult than they should be with a car that he feels has a good ‘overall package’.
“We know Saturdays are where we need to focus our attention: a better qualifying position can allow us to a fight for higher places and, ultimately, more points,” he added.
“In terms of race pace, our cars seem to be better, so we know the C43 as an overall package can be competitive.”
Whereas Bottas was involved in the points battle, team-mate Zhou Guanyu was not having the same kind of race on the other side of the garage, and Alunni Bravi says they had to try something different with the Chinese driver, particularly with him starting twentieth and last on the grid.
“It was a more difficult weekend for Zhou; starting from P20, we had to try something different so we tried an alternative strategy with him to recover some ground,” he admitted.
“Nevertheless, we take this point and we get back to work to continue our streak in Spielberg in two weeks.”
Alunni Bravi believes the return to permanent circuits between now and the summer break should help Alfa Romeo in Qualifying, but he knows it is important for everyone back at the Hinwil factory to keep pushing to help the team move forward.
“We will race on permanent circuits until the summer break, and we are confident they can better suit our qualifying performances,” Alunni Bravi said.
“We have seen, once again, how tight the battle is: one single metre could cost a position, just like one single tenth in qualifying can make the difference between Q2 and Q3: we will need to keep on working as hard as possible, both at the track and at the factory, to constantly improve.”