Despite a slow start to his Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Valtteri Bottas has stated that he and his Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN have “nothing to worry about” as the Finn expects to recover from a disappointing start to his weekend.
Free Practice One saw Bottas complete just two laps with the Finn failing to set an official time due to his C38 car suffering from a hydraulic leak in the morning session.
During the running of FP1 it was announced by the Alfa Romeo team that Bottas would be starting Sunday’s Grand Prix from the back of the grid due to new engine components being taken on his Alfa Romeo car.
A rain-affected Free Practice Two saw Bottas post the eighteenth fastest time of the session, eight-tenths behind his teammate Guanyu Zhou, who was twelfth fastest in FP2.
Speaking after what proved to be a tough first day around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Bottas placed high importance on clean running in tomorrow’s practice session if the team is to achieve their goals this weekend in Belgium.
“I was satisfied with the balance of the car, even though we obviously missed out on a session and we had to play catch-up in the rest of the day.
“The main limitation today was the grip levels, especially when I switched to the hard tyres, which are a big step from the soft: it’s nothing to worry about, though, I fully expect to figure it out tomorrow with a few more laps.
“We had a hydraulic leak in the first session and rain compromised the running towards the end of FP2, so hopefully we can get a bit more track time in the final practice session. We need a clean day to finish what we couldn’t do today.”
Guanyu Zhou: “Everything was working well”
Guanyu Zhou experienced a much smoother day of running around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit as the Chinese driver finished just outside the top ten in both sessions.
Zhou posted the twelfth fastest time of both FP1 and FP2 and the 23-year-old is likely to take great confidence from a strong day of running.
The Alfa Romeo driver heads into this weekend’s Grand Prix looking to snap a point-less streak which dates back to the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Just like his teammate, Zhou has also been handed a penalty ahead of Sunday’s race as a new gearbox means the Alfa Romeo driver has been handed a five place grid penalty.
After FP2 Zhou spoke on the high levels of confidence he will be taking into tomorrow’s qualifying session.
“It felt good to get back in the cockpit after the summer break; the car felt quite ok on this low-downforce track. Everything was working well today and I felt pretty good in the car: as always, though, there are a few bits that need to be fixed ahead of tomorrow, but I feel confident so far at the end of day one.
“We tried different setups between FP1 and FP2, as the day was about figuring out the best and biggest changes on the car, to have it at its best for quali tomorrow and for the race on Sunday.
“Everything seemed to go quite smoothly today, so hopefully this weekend we can take a step up from the past few races and get back to our previous form.”
Credit: Antonin Vincent / DPPI