Valtteri Bottas says he is coming to the Circuit of the Americas for this weekends United States Grand Prix in a competitive mode after winning a bike race in Kansas just last weekend.
The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver is a previous winner of the United States Grand Prix having won from pole position back in 2019 whilst racing for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, and, as a result, he has positive memories of racing at the Circuit of the Americas.
Bottas hopes the updates Alfa Romeo are bringing to the track this weekend can end his pointless run in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, which stretches back all the way to the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
“I always enjoy being in the States: I spent a good amount of my time off here this year, cycling and exploring, and I was in a bike race in Kansas just last Sunday – which I also won, which means I’m already in competitive mode ahead of the weekend,” said Bottas.
“I won the race from pole here in 2019, and I have overall good memories of this track, of the fans and of the atmosphere.
“As we already saw in Miami earlier this year, they really know how to put up a show around here! Our pace in Suzuka was good, and I’m looking forward to getting back on track this week as we will also be bringing some additional upgrades.
“If we do our homework on Friday and Saturday, we’ll be able to get in the mix during the race and score some valuable points.”
“It will be once again a new track for me to discover” – Zhou Guanyu
For team-mate Zhou Guanyu, it will be his first time racing at the Circuit of the Americas, and like many other venues so far in 2022, it will see the Chinese driver learning about the track in the early stages of the weekend.
Zhou, who was responsible for scoring Alfa Romeo’s only top ten finish since the Canadian Grand Prix in June when he took tenth place in the Italian Grand Prix, hopes to be up there fighting for the points this coming weekend.
With a contract for 2023 in his pocket, Zhou is looking to make a step forward this weekend, particularly with Alfa Romeo bringing updates to the Circuit of the Americas as they bid to maintain their sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship despite a recent resurgence from the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.
“I am looking forward to being in Austin, as it will be once again a new track for me to discover,” Zhou said. “It was unfortunate not being able to score any points in Suzuka, but at least we saw it can still be close in the midfield, especially since the pace we showed was promising.
“I spent a couple of days back at our base in Hinwil last week, preparing the upcoming races in the sim, and I am eager to get back in the car. We are also due to have some more upgrades here, and we hope the weather conditions will allow us to make the most of them.
“As always, in such a tight midfield, qualifying well on Saturday will be important: we have all the chances to have a close fight in the midfield and go back to adding points to our tally.”
Zhou Guanyu will race at COTA for the first time this weekend – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd