Valtteri Bottas has branded this weekend’s British Grand Prix as “quite important” in setting Alfa Romeo Sauber up for the second half of the season.

It’s been a testing opening to the 2023 campaign with just two top-10 finishes from the opening nine races.

Alfa Romeo Sauber sits eighth in the constructors’ championship with nine points, having been sixth at the end of 2022 with 55 points.

The squad will introduce an upgrade this weekend, which it hopes will propel it more consistently into the battle for points-paying results.

“Definitely needed these upgrades,” Bottas admitted.

“The whole factory have been working flat out to get two sets of those for this weekend.

“It seems like, last weekend in Austria, just overall lacking a bit of pace and, by pace, just no chance getting into [the] top 10.

“Hopefully it will give us a boost.

“It’s more like also targeting the high-speed nature of corners, so let’s see how it goes.”

Alfa Romeo Sauber is not alone in introducing upgrades, with Mercedes introducing a new front wing and McLaren deploying the second of three parts of its B-spec machine.

Should the Swiss-based operation be able to make progress compared to its rivals, it will be a positive step as F1 starts eyeing off the summer break.

“I think this weekend is quite important,” Bottas said.

“I think if we can make a step here, then that gives us obviously a lot more confidence for the rest of the season.

“But we keep fighting; it is so close that any small gain makes a big difference.

“And obviously, things are always track dependent as well, so we’ll keep working hard.”

Bottas has stood on the podium five times in Silverstone, his best result being a brace of second places for Mercedes in 2017 and 2019.

A repeat is currently beyond reach in normal circumstances, with the Finn offering a more realistic goal.

“I think this weekend, getting points ideally with both cars, that would be success at this point,” he ventured.

“That’s the target.”