The Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were happy after a rewarding F1 Qatar GP to secure double points finish.
Amid the gloom in recent races, Alfa Romeo shone in F1 Qatar GP with double points finish where Bottas was a comfortable eighth while Guanyu was ninth after the Chinese driver gained places courtesy penalties to Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez.
This was not only their first double points finish of F1 2023, but first since the 2022 Canadian GP. The results actually helped them leapfrog Haas in the constructors’ standings to be now eighth with 16 against their name to the former’s 12 with five rounds to go.
It was a straightforward Qatar GP for Alfa Romeo where both Bottas and Guanyu stayed away from trouble. The Finn ran inside the Top 10 for most part while the Chinese was hovering around it and made it in after some luck from others.
With the updates they have had in the recent races, both the Alfa Romeo drivers feels the double points finish as a nice reward. “It’s an amazing finish for a tricky start to the weekend,” said Bottas. “It’s rewarding for everyone here and back at the factory. Starting P19, last on the grid, and finishing in the points purely on pace, that was something quite special.
“From my side, we did everything correct, the pace was really quick actually. I think I was inside the top 10 almost the whole race, so we got to where we should be, and I’m really happy to finally get a double points finish for the team.”
Meanwhile, Guanyu added: “I’m really pleased, of course. Double points for us as a team is great. For me, getting four points feels really rewarding, but also for the whole team, so I’m pleased. I think we’ve learned a lot about the upgrades and now we’re starting to get more out of it. Of course, maybe the track favoured us a little bit, but at least we seem to be a bit stronger than previous races and I’m happy for that.”
Here’s FIA and drivers on extreme heat in Qatar GP
