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Preview Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou at GP Qatar

Alfa Romeo has hopes for Qatar after disappointing race in Japan

3 October 2023 at 19:44
Last update 3 October 2023 at 22:41
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  • Toby McLuskie

So far in 2023, the Alfa Romeo team has not been able to make a breakthrough. At Suzuka, too, the stable had a disappointing result. Before the start of the Qatar Grand Prix, the Alfa drivers have only collected ten points, which puts them in second last place in the constructors' championship. However, Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are confident that their car will fare much better in Qatar.

Bottas: 'Qatar will be interesting with the new cars'

Valtteri Bottas reveals ahead of Qatar that he used the time between the Japanese Grand Prix and Qatar mainly to train and do simulator work. The Finn says this has helped him better understand the updates to his Alfa Romeo and he is 'eager to get back on the track'. This is something Bottas will do at what is for him, not an unfamiliar circuit: "I have raced here in Qatar in 2021 already, and it will be interesting to be back racing with the new cars."

As Bottas looks ahead to the weekend with both a sprint and a main race, he begins, "there are still many opportunities for us to return to our point-scoring ways, starting from this weekend already: this is a Sprint Event, and with limited practice time, we must get the most out of our car, and place ourselves in favourable positions on the grid both on Saturday and, even more important, on Sunday.[...] I am confident that if we do our homework well, we have a positive chance of getting good results here."

Zhou: 'For the first time this season at a circuit where I have never raced before'

Guanyu Zhou agrees with his experienced teammate's opinion, but for him, the Losail circuit is new: "For the first time this season, we head to a track where I have never raced before; I have been working hard at the sim to come prepared, as we will have limited practice sessions this weekend." The Chinese also sees the importance of a good set-up, but he too is confident: "We have twice as many chances to score points this weekend, and I am ready to put up some nice battles in the field."