Photo by Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images
The F1 team has one last chance to accomplish their goal for the season
When the Formula 1 grid came back to life following the summer shutdown, Alfa Romeo emerged from the break with one clear goal in mind.
Finishing seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, those goals have taken a hit in the second half of the season. Not only has Williams extended the two-point advantage over Alfa Romeo they had at the time into a 12-point lead, but now Alfa Romeo has seen AlphaTauri overtake them in the standings as well.
Still, with one race left in the season — and with their title sponsorship deal with Alfa Romeo — the team is still eyeing that goal.
“Now, one last race awaits us: with our main competitors not scoring points in Las Vegas, the standings have remained unchanged, and there is one more chance in front of us to try and further improve our position in the standings,” said Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi in Alfa Romeo’s media preview.
“On top of that, this race weekend will mark the end of the partnership with our title partner, Alfa Romeo – and we intend to honour this relationship one last time and celebrate these six fruitful years together, during which both our brands flourished and grew,” added Alunni Bravi. “We are all ready to give all we have until the chequered flag on Sunday evening, to try and finish the season on a positive note.”
When SB Nation sat down with Valtteri Bottas ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the veteran driver outlined how the team needed to be perfect over the final two races to catch Williams. While they could not reach perfection at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, their goal is still in sight.
“It was really unfortunate to see my race being over pretty much after the first corner last Saturday, as we had looked strong all weekend and I was confident we could have brought home some points,” said Bottas. “Still, none of our competitors scored points in Las Vegas and the standings remain unchanged: this weekend we have one more chance to do well and improve our position, and we are motivated to do our best to achieve it.”
For teammate Zhou Guanyu, Yas Marina gives Alfa Romeo a chance to end the season the right way.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned for us this season, but we still have one more race to try and improve our position in the standings, have a good race and carry this momentum into the break,” said Zhou.
“Looking back at Las Vegas, I had a very eventful race with a lot of battles, even if I couldn’t really improve my position from where I was starting. Our direct competitors didn’t make it into the top ten either, which means the battle is still open: the whole team is ready and determined to do our best to try and improve our position in the standings,” added Zhou. “That would be a nice way to end our season, for the team back home in Hinwil who worked so hard throughout the year, and for our fans, for their unwavering support.”
Alfa Romeo gets their last shot at Williams, and the rest of the field, starting on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
