'It's Tough': Bottas Reacts To Alfa Romeo Double DNF In Sao Paulo

Thursday, 09 November 2023 at 09:00

Alfa Romeo F1 driver Valtteri Bottas reflected on a double DNF for his team during the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu started the race in 18th and 20th place in Brazil. Both drivers managed to avoid the big lap one collision, gained four positions, and moved closer to the points.

Bottas was in P10 at one point of the race. However, similar to his teammate, he was called into the pits to retire his car on lap 39. The Finn said after he got out of the car:

"It’s tough. I think we had the opportunity today to score, but it seems like some competitors, they will score, so it’s not a good day. But we need to understand the issues and move forward."

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Alfa Romeo was equal on points with AlphaTauri going into the weekend. The current gap after the weekend is five points, as Yuki Tsunoda achieved point positions for his team in both races. As quoted by formula1.com, Bottas told the media after the race:

"Our pace felt pretty good today, a definite improvement from the rest of the weekend: we adapted well to the cooler temperatures, and we were in the mix to bring home some points."

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix marked the third retirement of the season for both Bottas and his teammate Zhou. The 34-year-old suggested he had the pace for points.

"We still need to investigate the technical issue that caused it, but the frustration remains. It was a real shame, as we actually had the chance to build something really promising today."

It was now the third consecutive race that Alfa Romeo had not scored a single point. The team is currently ninth in the Championship with a four-point lead on Haas. Bottas concluded:

"The weekend overall has been a tough one for us; with only two rounds to go, things look pretty difficult for our side: still, we won’t give up, and we will keep working hard to try and make up for the positions lost in the final two rounds of the Championship."