Alfa Romeo Racing team principal Frédéric Vasseur says that his team needs to “work harder” in order to move up the Formula 1 order in 2019.
Alfa Romeo sits in a disappointing ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship after seven races, well below pre-season expectations, after a run of three races without a points finish.
While Kimi Räikkönen has 13 points to his name in ’19, full season rookie Antonio Giovinazzi is yet to score his first F1 point.
Vasseur refused to pin Alfa Romeo’s recent troubles on misfortune, but is hopeful that it has started to understand the C38 better.
“The last three races didn’t go to plan, but it would be too easy to put it down to bad luck or unfortunate circumstances,” said Vasseur.
“As a team we need to do fewer mistakes and we need to work harder, which we have done after coming back from Canada, to get the full potential out of our car.”
Vasseur also revealed that Alfa Romeo has a set of planned updates ready for the recommence of the European season, and that said improvements should enable the team to fight for points again and move up the order.
The gap between Alfa Romeo and the Racing Point F1 Team in sixth place is just six points, with the Renault F1 Team a further nine points ahead in fifth.
“At the same time there is no reason to talk ourselves down, we’re showing fighting spirit and we’ll make the most of the developments we have lined up for the next few races,” Vasseur added.
“I am confident we can recover the speed we showed earlier in the season and get back in the fight for points.”
