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Alfa Romeo F1 Boss Insists Poor Qualifying Outing Hindered ‘Mega’ Race at Australian GP

Published 04/15/2022, 11:56 AM EDT

It was only a month ago that we were awaiting the new season of Formula One. The new regulations introduced have been a success so far, as we have witnessed three exciting races. Ferrari has stormed to the top with a 39-point lead, with Red Bull and Mercedes playing catch up to the team from Italy. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo has started the season brightly.

Alfa Romeo has gathered 13 points already and are sitting 6th on the table. They finished the last season with 13 points. So, to achieve the same points tally after just 3 races is a massive improvement for the Swiss-based team. Valtteri Bottas has been a great addition to the team, as he is already bringing in good points using his experience and racecraft.

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The team came to Australia with spring in their steps, but a disappointing qualifying session left them frustrated. Both the cars exited from Q2 as Bottas’ streak of 103 Q3 starts came to an end. Alfa Romeo’s team principal Frederic Vasseur revealed the exit in Q2 was a mishap.

Frederic Vasseur is content with Alfa Romeo’s pace

Formula 1 announced the Australian Grand Prix will include four DRS zones to aid overtaking. However, they changed it to three before the race. As a result, Alfa Romeo had to reduce the size of the rear wing once the fourth DRS was removed.

Bottas revealed the change was the reason the team struggled in qualifying. Frederic Vasseur also echoed Bottas’ thoughts and believed the battle with Lance Stroll during the race held up the Finn.

He said, “It was a step back in quali, I think we f***ed up the Q2, but Q1 was very good. We were P6, and the race pace was mega. The issue is that we lost too much time on track behind [Lance] Stroll mainly.”

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The former Mercedes driver finished 8th on Sunday. His teammate Guanyu Zhou just missed out on points as he ended up in P11. Nevertheless, the result satisfied the Frenchman. He added, “But overall, I’m very happy with the pace, I’m very happy with the pace of Zhou also because he did very well. I think for us it’s a good weekend, on the same line of the first two.”

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Vasseur also revealed there are upgrades lined up for Imola. The start to the season will certainly please the Alfa Romeo fans, and they will hope the team can carry the momentum to the upcoming races.

Where will Alfa Romeo end up on the scoreboard? Leave your predictions in the comments below.

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Written by:

Rahul Madhavan is a Formula 1 writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his Bachelor's degree in business administration, he is pursuing his love for sports in the form of writing. Rahul is an avid McLaren fan, who also enjoys writing about soccer.

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh

Alfa Romeo F1 Boss Insists Poor Qualifying Outing Hindered ‘Mega’ Race at Australian GP

Frederic Vasseur is content with Alfa Romeo’s pace

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