Valtteri Bottas is refusing to panic despite being forced to readjust his expectations downwards following a poor start to the F1 season for Alfa Romeo.
Bottas has scored just four points from the opening six races of this year, whilst the team has managed only six in total. In contrast to the same stage last season, the Finn had racked up 38 of Alfa Romeo’s 39-point haul.
Although there was a mid-season lull, performances improved late on which allowed the team to clinch sixth in the constructors’ championship and fill it with optimism for this year.
That, however, has failed to come to fruition, leaving Bottas to change his targets accordingly for this year.
Asked by Speedcafe ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix to assess his season so far, Bottas said: “Definitely, we’re not where we want to be, and I’m not having the results that I want to be getting.
“Of course, the goal for us this year was to make a step up and be better, and that’s not been the case.
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“So this is a situation now where we’re obviously trying to work away from it and be better but that will take a bit of time.
“No doubt, it’s going to be a challenging season but the good thing is we already have things in the pipeline.
“Physically, we know the best stuff is coming and that can help us. It is close because with two-tenths (of a second) gain, that can actually make quite a big difference nowadays.”
As to whether he has had to re-evaluate his goals, he added: “Of course. At the beginning of the year, I had some vision of where I wanted to be finishing, so yes, we have definitely had to re-evaluate a bit.
“Now, the target and the motivation is progress, and seeing improvements and feeling improvements.
“I’m still in this for the long term so there’s no reason to panic.”
It means success now is “being consistently in the points”, a tough ask as the top four teams in Red Bull, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari, are showing the kind of reliability that results in them claiming the top-eight positions in a race.
If Miami and Monaco are any guide, Alpine is also beginning to edge ahead of what has so far been a congested midfield.
“There are a few teams that are going to be tough to beat, no doubt,” assessed Bottas.
“It is what it is, so that’s where we are now, but we want to be better.”
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