2023 Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake endured a difficult weekend in the streets of Baku, with no points at the end of a challenging Sprint event. In the main Sunday race, Valtteri Bottas finished 18th, while team-mate Zhou Guanyu’s race ended prematurely with technical issues that are currently being investigated by the team.
A tough event for Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake: the team will need to regroup and make a decisive step forward to regain the competitiveness with which it had started the season. As Azerbaijan goes into the history books, Formula One moves to Miami for the final leg of this back-to-back, next week.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “This was a disappointing race and it showed that, right now, our package is not competitive enough to score points. The priority for everyone of us in the team – here at the track and back at base – is to work hard and make the improvements necessary to get back where we expect to be. The field remains tight, and we can get back into this battle: but we must deliver a step forward to do so. We are all fully committed to this and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get there.”
Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Race result: 18th
Fastest lap: 1:46.304 (Lap 36)
Tyres: New Medium (6 laps) - New Hard (6 laps) - New Hard (22 laps) - New Medium (16 laps)
“It wasn’t a great race for us and we were never in the mix for the points: we need to understand what happened and, most importantly, how to get back to being competitive. My race was hard from the start: I had a contact in turn two, I was on the outside and I was hit from the left and from behind, which left me with some damage. It was quite a long race after that: we tried to find a way back in, as anything can happen here, but eventually there weren’t any chances for us to rebuild our race. For sure, we need to improve our pace and do everything we can to move forward. We head straight to Miami now: it is a very different track from this, we will stay motivated and go for it again.”
Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
Race result: DNF
Fastest lap: 1:47.553 (Lap 31)
Tyres: New Medium (11 laps) - New Hard (25 laps)
“Quite the weekend to forget for us: it’s never nice to DNF, but realistically we didn’t have a chance to score points today. We needed to retire the car as a precaution as we had rising temperatures and alarms on my dash. In general, it was a tough weekend for all of us. We need to understand the reasons for this and work hard, all of us, to make a step forward. I am confident this team can do that, I see it in the people here and at home. We will do all in our power to get back where we expect to be and continue to improve.”
