Bottas issues Alfa Romeo demand after costly delays

Valtteri Bottas has demanded Alfa Romeo step up its rate of development after costly delays last season.

Alfa Romeo began 2022 as one of the top midfield teams alongside Haas, with the pace of the C42 allowing it to compete with Mercedes in qualifying trim.

But as the season wore on, the slow pace at which Alfa Romeo produced upgrades led to results falling away and the team registering the lowest points return of any outfit over the final 13 races.

Outlining his hopes for the coming campaign in an end-of-year interview with GPFans, Bottas said: “We need to produce a good, reliable, and fast car, faster than [the 2022] car.

"Obviously, that work has been going on for quite some time.

“Again, I don't know about other teams but I feel like we were quite early in terms of switching the focus for the year and trying to aim for the long-term game, so I hope that will help us.

“For sure, it's a fact that we still need more people at the factory, which is work that is ongoing and it'll happen. I'm sure that's going to help in-season development.

“The delays we had [last year], that definitely cost us some performance.

“First of all, the car needs to be born well and fast but then we need to be able to improve the car throughout the year.”

Additional reporting by Sam Hall