Alfa Romeo encountered a number of issues during the three-day testing at Barcelona, severely limiting their track time.
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Alfa Romeo drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are both confident that the new car, the C42, is heading in the right direction despite a few setbacks in pre-season.
The Swiss-Italian side encountered a number of issues during the three-day testing at Barcelona, severely limiting their track time.
In terms of laps covered, only Haas managed less laps than the two Alfa Romeos. Nevertheless, the team are cautiously optimistic about their new Formula 1 car.
Pre-season test done and dusted ✔️
? x @GuanyuZhou24 pic.twitter.com/DJ5kdN1oiJ
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) February 25, 2022
Bottas in particular suffered during the final day of pre-season testing. He could only complete 54 laps over three days due to reliability issues and a spin he suffered later on.
Yet he was positive about the way the day went. “It was a positive day, with quite a bit of running and some good indications until nearly the end of the session.
“I was able to run with the C3 compound, but unfortunately a spin and a small hydraulic leak meant I couldn’t try the C4 tyres.
“It’s only testing and we can’t really compare what we are doing against the other teams. But the feeling is that we are going in the right direction.
“The most important thing is to work together as a team to make sure we take a step forward ahead of testing in Bahrain.”
Bottas‘ rookie teammate Zhou also saw his track time cut short due to two stoppages on Day 3. However, he still completed 112 laps behind the wheel of the C42.
Perhaps that was why he was positive over the team’s ‘good progress’ over the past three days. And why he was sure more changes would be made before the season got underway.
“The team has made good progress with the C42, even though I wasn’t able to get all the running I would have liked.
“A few technical issues stopped us in the afternoon. But the data we collected during the morning session will allow us to keep working and developing the car.
Also read: Red Bull have ‘good baseline’, says Sergio Perez after final day of testing
“Our focus switches to making the most of the time between now and the Bahrain test, and maximising our mileage when we get there.
“I am confident we can make up the time we lost and be fully ready for the season ahead.”
All 10 F1 teams are now done with the first round of pre-season testing at Barcelona. The teams will now head to Sakhir, Bahrain for the official pre-season testing from March 10-12.
After that, the season gets underway from March 18 onwards with the Bahrain GP.
