The 32-year-old Finnish driver joined Alfa Romeo this season from Mercedes and has had a strong start to the campaign so far.
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Alfa Romeo driver Valterri Bottas has predicted the 2022 Australian GP to be a tactically intriguing race. The Finn joined Alfa Romeo this season from Mercedes and has had a strong start so far. When asked about the impact of potentially adding a new DRS zone to the Albert Park track, Bottas said that it did not bother him much. The Finn went on to say that the inclusion of multiple DRS zone in a track makes the racing more interesting as it would create more overtaking opportunities.
“I think it’s going to make the race tactically quite interesting. When you’re fighting with other drivers, you need to make sure that you will have the upper hand when it really comes to the overtake itself, and especially if it’s a battle towards the end of the race, you need to time things right. It just makes it different in a way, and there will be opportunities to overtake. So I’m fine with four zones, it’s fine,” the 32-year-old said.
Following Bottas’ move to Alfa Romeo, the team experienced a strong run of form. The Ferrari-powered car is one of the midfield’s frontrunners, and the team put in a strong performance in Bahrain. Guanyu Zhou, the Finn’s teammate, thought the DRS zone from Turn 9 to Turn 10 and 11 would allow the drivers to do something different. While attempting to complete an overtake, the Chinese driver also stressed the importance of managing battery power.
“Managing your battery is also a key, you don’t want to overuse that, end up attacking and not making the move stick. But I think with the new layout, especially with high-speed, it’s not helping, but with our new car generation, it’s easier to follow. That makes the racing maybe more tight or compact. But on the other hand, DRS is definitely helping a lot,” the Chinese driver said.
