Valtteri Bottas feels Alfa Romeo finally has a greater understanding of the recent upgrades on the car although he claims the C43 remains the slowest on the straights due to drag.
Bottas finished eighth in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, a result of his fine qualifying performance on Friday that allowed him to start from 10th, in combination with “a good strategy and a really clean race” that made for “a perfect day”.
The Finn was also aided by the fact Sergio Perez dropped from eighth at the chequered flag to ninth after a third five-second penalty for exceeding track limits was added to his time.
The result was Bottas’ best since the opening day in Bahrain, and with team-mate Zhou Guanyu claiming 10th from 19th on the grid, it was Alfa Romeo’s first double-points finish of the season.
There was further help along the way with Carlos Sainz not starting in his Ferrari, and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton crashing out in the first corner, but the Finn still declared the four-point haul as “refreshing and rewarding”.
Additionally key to the performance around the Lusail International Circuit were the updates on the car, notably a new floor and diffuser in Singapore, with a beam wing added in Qatar to enhance the aero flow.
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“We’ve learned a lot about the upgrades,” said Bottas. “We finally understand them 100 percent, and now we are starting to get more out of them
“Of course, maybe the track favoured us a little bit, but at least we seem to be stronger than in previous races and I’m happy.
“The next race (United States GP in Austin) is quite a different track again, but it seems like we were definitely more competitive (in Qatar) than other weekends.”
Despite conceding the new beam wing “definitely helped a little bit”, he conceded the car was “still draggy”, adding that “I think we’re probably still the slowest on the straight, so something to work on.”
The overall improvement in the car, however, has left Bottas feeling as if Alfa Romeo can challenge Williams for seventh position in the constructors’ championship.
The haul in Qatar allowed the team to leapfrog Haas into eighth, and leave it seven points behind a Williams team that has now failed to score in the last three races.
“We’re fighting for every single place and every point counts,” said Bottas. “We overtook Haas in the championship, so I’m happy.
“Of course, we had a bit of luck in a way because Lewis went out, and also Sainz didn’t start, otherwise P8 would have been difficult.
“Sometimes you need that bit of luck but we also just got everything right, even Zhou starting last and finishing 10th, he had a great race.”
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