'Gave Everything Out There Today': Says Bottas While Alfa Romeo Loses Ground In Championship

Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 19:00

Alfra Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas reflected on the unsuccessful 2023 United States Grand Prix weekend.

After achieving an amazing double-point finish during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo came to Circuit of the Americas, hoping for another great result.

The bumpy track did not seem to suit the Alfa Romeo team as both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished the race outside of points even after jumping two places up following Hamilton-Leclerc's disqualification. As reported by formula1.com, Bottas told the media after the race:

"We gave everything out there today: strategy-wise, we did everything right, but unfortunately, we just lacked pace throughout the weekend compared to our direct competitors."

Read also

Horner Not Expecting 'Warmest Reception In Mexico' For Verstappen

Bottas mentioned he wasn't able to "extract maximum" out of his car's upgrades as the team had to run the car slightly higher due to the bumpiness of the circuit. He added:

"As a slight positive, our direct competitors didn’t score many points either today, which leaves the battle for seventh in the championship still open."

Bottas mentioned Alfa Romeo's direct competitors haven't earned points as well. The team stands in eighth place in the Constructors' Championship with 16 points.

However, both Williams drivers managed to score points, finishing P9 and P10, extending the gap to Alfa Romeo to ten points. It was also the first point-finish for Logan Sargeant.

A threat presented to Alfa Romeo is the five points that Yuki Tsunoda scored for AlphaTauri, which is still last in the Championship but with ten points.

Consequently, Alfa Romeo is ten points away from P6 and only six points away from P10. Bottas feels positive ahead of this week's Mexico City Grand Prix, as he added:

"I am looking forward to heading to Mexico in just a couple of days: last year, the track suited our car well, and that hopefully will allow us to quickly get back in competitive form."