Alfa Romeo’s Frédéric Vasseur: “The team did a good job in difficult circumstances”

Frédéric Vasseur, the Team Principal of Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, says the fact they got both cars into the top eleven in last Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix proves the Hinwil-based outfit after heading in the right direction with their C42-Ferrari in 2022.

Valtteri Bottas scored four points at Albert Park after taking eighth place, while Zhou Guanyu only just missed out on the top ten, ending the day in eleventh after seeing Alexander Albon use an unusual pit strategy to claim the final point on offer.

It means Alfa Romeo have already equalled their points tally from 2021 in just three races, and Vasseur feels there is a lot more still to come heading into the first European round, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, later this month.

However, he knows it could have been even better had Alfa Romeo had some better luck in Australia, with Zhou in particular hindered by the timing of the safety car that lost him some valuable places and track position compared to some of his rivals.

“Bringing home four points with another top ten finish is really good, especially to bounce back after the off-race in Jeddah,” said Vasseur.  

“The team did a good job in difficult circumstances today: the timing of the first Safety Car wasn’t ideal and it cost us track position, especially with Zhou; we also got stuck in a couple of DRS trains that made progress hard, so we had to earn our place the difficult way.

“That we did, and we went so close to having two cars in the points again, is proof that we are going in the right direction. The whole team did well today, now we can focus on the race in Imola to continue our battle for a good position in the constructors’ championship.”