Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN went close to scoring points as Zhou Guanyu finished fourteenth, within seconds of tenth place, at the Belgian Grand Prix. Birthday boy, Valtteri Bottas, saw his race come to an early end as he was collected by a spinning Nicholas Latifi and spun into the gravel in the opening laps.
Both Alfa Romeo drivers took grid penalties coming into the race with Zhou starting in nineteenth place and Bottas starting in fourteenth. Despite this, there was a strong belief from the team that they could score points, especially with a mixed-up grid.
However, this sadly did not go to plan as Bottas’ race ended early when he was beached in the gravel trying to avoid a collision with Latifi. Zhou did the best he could to try and score points for the team but just lacked that first sector pace compared to Williams Racing which saw him finish in fourteenth place.
Alfa Romeo’s team principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke positively after the race about the team’s performance despite the unfortunate circumstances. He admitted that the penalties would make for a complicated weekend but believes the pace of the car deserved a better result.
“The team did a good job, given the circumstances: unfortunately, that was not enough for a point today. We knew that, taking power unit and gearbox penalties with both cars, we’d have a complicated weekend, but we can take heart from the pace we showed.”
“Both drivers had a good shot at the points: unfortunately, Valtteri’s race was over immediately, and Zhou got stuck in Albon’s DRS train when in sight of the points. These things happen, we’ll build on the pace and work hard to make sure we can maximize our results already in Zandvoort.”
