Alfa Romeo’s Frédéric Vasseur: “We must be at our very best and be ready for any challenge”

Frédéric Vasseur says Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN have the motivation to fight back and score points this weekend in France after two pointless weekends in Great Britain and Austria.

The team have been enjoying a much more fruitful 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season after a few years fighting at the back of the pack, and they currently sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship heading into the weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Vasseur, the Team Principal of the Hinwil-based squad, says everyone has been working hard to understand why their performance was not as strong in the past two races and to find a solution to bring both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu back into contention for the top ten this weekend.

“We come to France with the motivation to put ourselves back where we belong after two rather difficult back-to-back races in Silverstone and Spielberg,” said Vasseur.

“We did not manage to score any points in these outings, but the team has been working hard to understand the causes of our performance and we are confident we can get back to the level we have been enjoying this season so far.

“The midfield is getting tighter and closer race after race and this is producing some hugely entertaining battles, but our objective is to finish on top of this scrap. We finished just outside the top ten in Austria, and to improve on that should be our starting point for this weekend.”

The 2021 event in France had a number of on-track overtakes, and with the 2022 machinery proving it is easier to follow other cars compared to last year, Vasseur believes even more manoeuvres for position should be seen. 

However, he says Alfa Romeo will need to be on the top of their game if they are to add to the fifty-one points they have already scored this year.

“In 2021, the Paul Ricard saw plenty of overtakes on track, which should be a good indication for this year’s cars,” he said.  “As always, we must be at our very best and be ready for any challenge, to keep up with the good performances we have showed so far and be able to add points to our tally at the end of the weekend.”