Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN heads to Monaco for one of the most famous events in motorsport – the Grand Prix in Monte-Carlo. The team will aim to build on its successful start of the season by extending its scoring streak as racing is unleashed in the streets of the Principality.
There are few places that evoke what a race weekend in Monaco does. The yachts gently bobbing onto the water in the marina, the sun glistening as the sounds of engines rips through the air and echoes in the tunnel: the imagery of this race is familiar to all. It’s a race a lot of drivers call home, of course; it’s a race to which VIPs flock, a race to see and be seen.
Monaco is a special race for drivers and teams as well: a challenge from the sporting perspective, of course, with the unforgiving walls ready to punish the tiniest mistake and the stopwatch rewarding the bravest. But also a challenge from a logistical point of view, with multi-storeys garages, a split paddock, spares and trucks stored remotely. It’s not an easy weekend, but it’s an experience that needs to be done at least once.
A strong result in Monaco, in the light of the challenges of the weekend, has a special shine: we head to Monaco determined to show what we can do, to bring home a special result in this most unique of races. When Formula One heads to the Principality, we’ll be aiming for the Crown.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “Monaco is a unique race, a special occasion in which every team and every driver wants to do well. The same applies to us, of course, although we will approach the weekend in the same manner as any other For us, the objectives remain unchanged: we know we have the potential to lead the midfield and be in the mix with the front runners most from our package. We have been working hard to make sure our reliability matches our performance and we can be in a position to have two cars in the points. We’ll be in Monaco to make sure the world notices just how well we are performing this season.”
Valtteri Bottas: “I am looking forward to this weekend’s race. Monaco is always an interesting weekend, it’s a home weekend for a lot of the drivers and it definitely has a feeling that you don’t get from any other round in the calendar. I am really curious to see how the racing will be with the new generation of cars: this has traditionally been a difficult place for close racing and, should it be different this year, we could be in for something spectacular weekend: we have been fighting with the top guys for two races in a row and I don’t see any reason why we won’t be able to do it again this time around clean Friday and a good Saturday: if we’re high up on the grid, we can potentially bring home a special result.”
Zhou Guanyu: “I am really looking forward to driving a Formula One car around Monaco: it’s going to be an incredible challenge, but I expect it to be an incredible feeling. This is a place where you need to be at the absolute limit at all times to be competitive, even in the junior series, and it will be even more so in F1 It’s a place where you need to respect the track and finding the right feeling in the practice sessions will be very important, but I know the team is behind me and I can rely on them to make the most of the weekend. We have all been working very hard to make sure reliability issues don’t get in the way of our work anymore and I’m confident we can show again how competitive we can be. I have some very good memories from Monaco, where I won last year, and I am keen to make more now that I am in F1.”
