After having reliability issues in preseason, outgoing Alfa Romeo Formula 1 boss Frederic Vasseur believed that placing sixth in the championship in 2022 was the "best case."
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Even though they tied on points heading into the final race of the season, the team managed to hold on to sixth place ahead of Aston Martin, giving them their best constructors’ championship finish since 2012. Valtteri Bottas’ fifth-place performance at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in April helped Alfa Romeo finish sixth on countback, which was a better result than either Aston Martin driver had achieved all year. It was a significant improvement over preseason, when the team struggled to finish even a three-lap run during the initial shakedown of its C42 car because of the severity of the porpoising it encountered.
However, after they had this under control, the team took advantage of having one of the few cars that wasn’t noticeably overweight and amassed 51 of its 55 points for the season in the first nine races. Vasseur, the head of Alfa Romeo F1, acknowledged that sixth place was “perhaps a bit more than what we were expecting” at the beginning of the year in an interview conducted before announcing his departure to Ferrari for 2023. It was the ideal situation, according to Vasseur, who spoke to reporters. “Undoubtedly, there is still room for improvement, and nothing is flawless. But ultimately, we are in a respectable situation. “In terms of pure performance, we narrowed the distance with the leaders, and I’m also extremely happy with the growth we experienced over the season.
Bottas and teammate Zhou Guanyu both finished within the points in Bahrain’s inaugural race, crossing the finish line sixth and tenth, respectively. Bottas acknowledged to Motorsport.com that he was “a little bit anxious after testing since we didn’t get that much running,” echoing Vasseur’s worries before to the first race. Since we had numerous problems, everyone was surprised by the outcome of the opening race in Bahrain, according to Bottas. We actually had two cars finish in the top 10, and the automobile made it to the finish line. It was excellent
