“Alfa Romeo competing with Mercedes? Bottas believes it”
After last week's winter trials, the Finnish driver is confident in his race pace, to the point of seeing himself competing with the Mercedes silver arrows.
Aston Martin is announced as the surprise of 2023 after having experienced very strong pre-season tests. On its side, Alfa Romeo also had three productive days with over 400 completed laps and a third best time overall in its tests. Is it enough to consider a battle with Mercedes?
Valterri Bottas shares his thoughts on the hierarchy, before the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and has high hopes of competing with his former team.
We will not be as fast as Red Bull, Ferrari, and also Aston Martin which seemed faster in race pace.
« But apart from that, it’s really close. Also, the time of day makes a big difference, the driving modes used can also make a difference of up to one second per lap. But taking all of that into account, I think we should be competitive. »
According to the long relays, it seemed like we could compete against the Mercedes. There were relays where they were faster than us, but also moments where they were slower than us.
It really depends on whether they managed to solve their potential problems, but according to our figures, they didn’t seem to be able to fight for victory. But you never know.
Sixth in 2022, better in 2023?
The new aero regulations allowed the team based in Hinwill to finish sixth in the constructors’ standings in 2022.
A performance that could have been much better if Alfa Romeo had not encountered, especially in the second half of the season, reliability issues and a C42 car that did not allow Bottas to find the perfect balance.
But for 2023, the latter seems much more optimistic and details a car that handles well in both low-speed and high-speed turns.
Last year, we were actually quite limited with the adjustment options, the car’s balance was quite oversteer at high speed and understeer at low speed. So we tried to adapt with the settings, but it was sometimes complicated.
« This year, it seems that we have a few more tools to play with, due to the nature of the car. We have a better package in terms of the balance between low and high speed. »
This year, I will also be able to skip the whole learning process with the team [it’s his second year at Alfa Romeo], so I will be able to focus on the work to be done, and it’s much more enjoyable than last year.
