Valtteri Bottas will be hoping for a better performance this time round at the Japanese Grand Prix, after finishing just outside the points in eleventh place last weekend at Singapore.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN had a disappointing race last time out around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with both drivers scoring no points once again, as Bottas finished in eleventh place and Zhou Guanyu did not finish the race after a coming together with Nicholas Latifi.
Bottas comes into the Suzuka International Racing Course as the last winner around the circuit in 2019, after a three-year absence from Formula 1 calendar. The Finnish driver will be hoping that with new upgrades on the car this weekend, he can have success around this track once again, as the Alfa Romeo team compete to secure sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“I am happy to go back to Suzuka after three ears: the atmosphere here is incredible, and the fans are super passionate and welcoming. I have particularly good memories of the last time we raced here, in 2019, as I won the Grand Prix, having also finished on the podium the year before.
Last Sunday in Singapore wasn’t really our day, and it was a bit frustrating to finish just one place away from points. Despite this, we were showing good pace, and we’re also going to have new upgrades on the car, so hopefully we can put ourselves in the game from the start of the weekend and fight for the too ten.”
Zhou Guanyu: “I am thrilled to race in Suzuka”
Zhou will also be hoping to improve on his performance last weekend around Singapore, after he was unable to finish the race due to a collision on track with Latifi.
The Chinese driver is the only rookie in Formula 1 this season and impressed early on with a points finish in his first race at the Bahrain Grand Prix. However, both Zhou and the team have struggled over the course of the season, in particular, in the second half of the year as points have been hard to come by for Alfa Romeo.
With five races remaining this season, Zhou is confident coming into this weekend that with new upgrades on the car and the hope of dry conditions in Japan, that it can put the team in the best position to get their season back on track with a good result on Sunday.
“A new race week, and a new track for me to discover. I am thrilled to race in Suzuka. one of the most iconic tracks on the calendar, and I’m looking forward to being there and enjoying it. It was really unfortunate to have my race end prematurely because of somebody else’s mistake in Singapore, especially because we had decent pace, and we could’ve built something on that.
“We performed well in dry conditions, so hopefully the weather will be on our side in Japan; this weekend we are also set to bring some upgrades on the car which, if we do our homework for qualifying and place ourselves well on the grid, may help us get the results we want on Sunday.”
