Valtteri Bottas excited by Alfa Romeo upgrades as battle continues

Valtteri Bottas at Circuit Zandvoort — Photo: © LAT Images

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Bottas excited by Alfa Romeo upgrades as battle continues

Valtteri Bottas says Alfa Romeo are gaining a better understanding of their car after a strong weekend in Qatar

Cal Gaunt

Monday 16 October 2023 13:57

Valtteri Bottas has said that his Alfa Romeo team are gaining a better understanding of its most recent upgrade package and revealed what he considers the 'final piece of the puzzle' following a strong performance in Qatar.

Both Bottas and his team-mate Zhou Guanyu secured points in the race, finishing in eighth and ninth place, with Zhou moving up a spot due to Sergio Perez's penalty.

This achievement earned the team six points, propelling them to eighth place in the constructors' standings, just seven points behind Williams.

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Alfa Romeo have introduced several new components in recent races, including a beam wing in Qatar, which Bottas believes serves as the final piece to make the new package function effectively as a whole.

Valtteri Bottas was pleased to see some improvement in performance at the Qatar Grand Prix

Key upgrades and effective strategy saw Alfa Romeo enjoy a double-points finish at Losail

Bottas believes straight-line speed is a key area for Alfa Romeo to improve on

Bottas highlights key upgrades

“I feel like we definitely made some progress now, and finally understand 100% the upgrades,” said Bottas, per Autosport.

“Of course, the next race [US Grand Prix] is quite a different track again, but it seems like we were definitely a bit more competitive this week.”

When he was asked if the beam wing was the 'final piece in the puzzle', he added: “It definitely helps a little bit. But we're still draggy. I think we're probably still the slowest on the straight, so something to work on.”

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