Alfa Romeo are the only side with an all-new driver line-up this season, featuring Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.
Follow Us
Alfa Romeo F1 team principal Frederic Vasseur is happy with the way new drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are working at the team so far.
Ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Alfa Romeo are the only side with an all-new driver line-up. They are also the only team to be giving a rookie a debut.
Given the sweeping regulation changes, most teams have opted for stability over change. But for Vasseur, he felt the team needed change soon.
They had stuck with the previous driver line-up of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi for a while. And while Raikkonen retired, Giovinazzi was dropped by Alfa Romeo and moved to Formula E.
Also read: Ferrari F1 team seek to ‘optimise’ F1-75 before Bahrain pre-season testing
“I think it was the right moment for us… to do the [driver] change,” said Vasseur during the pre-season testing in Spain. “But for me, it’s not an issue at all to start with a new line-up this season.
“It was very important to have someone with huge experience of F1 and with Valtteri we have [that], and he will be supportive with Zhou. The collaboration is more than good so far between them.
“They are really collaborating very well, it’s important for Zhou, but let’s see. I think we don’t have to put pressure on Zhou’s shoulders, but F1 is a huge step – not only on driving, because I think driving is not far away from F2 – but more about management of everything, including you [the press].
“I’m confident because the approach is a good one: he’s positive, open-minded, let’s see.”
However, it has not been a smooth time for Alfa Romeo so far in pre-season. The car struggled with reliability issyes throughout the three days spent at Barcelona.
This severely limited their track time too; they were second last in terms of laps logged, behind only an arguably even more beleaguered Haas.
However, Bottas remains confident that the side can make up for lost time ahead of the new season when they touch down in Bahrain.
“Our focus switches to making the most of the time between now and the Bahrain test, and maximising our mileage when we get there,” Bottas said.
“I am confident we can make up the time we lost and be fully ready for the season ahead.”
The second round of pre-season tests gets underway on March 10 and ends on March 12. The season gets underway one week later.
