Midfield to be “close, intense, thrilling fight” – Alfa Romeo’s Frédéric Vasseur

The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN have started 2022 brilliantly, something which was further proven at the recent Miami Grand Prix after Valtteri Bottas finished seventh. Rookie Guanyu Zhou unfortunately retired from Miami due to a technical fault, however, the Chinese driver has shown promise so far this season.

Bottas has been a consistent points finisher so far this year, and has been a frontrunner in the incredibly close midfield. The Finnish driver has been able to battle with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team at most rounds this season, as the German side continue to struggle in 2022.

The running order may mix up at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, as a number of teams will introduce their first set of substantial upgrades this season. It means the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will be an interesting host, especially as the circuit held the official shakedown test back in February.

Alfa Romeo Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, is hoping his team can continue their “positive streak” despite what upgrades teams may introduce.

“We head to Barcelona with the aim of extending our positive streak at the start of the season: I feel we are now in a situation in which our objectives will be similar for each round going forward, and not too different from what we have had so far this season – both cars in Q2, one in Q3 and points on Sunday.

“This doesn’t mean we are underestimating the challenge ahead of us in Catalonia or anywhere else: the midfield is going to be a close, intense and thrilling fight throughout the season, and it will be a fight decided by small margins in each race. We are also very curious about where the updates each team is bringing are going to put everyone: our team had to face a massive challenge to respond to the pressure under which the incidents of recent events have put us, but our workforce have come back with hard work and determination, and we will have plenty to evaluate this weekend.

“This is a race which can bring a bit of a shake-up to the order we’ve seen so far, and I am confident our team has done the work needed to be among the ones who have done the better job.”