Formula 1: Four points for the Alfa Sauber team at the start 🎥
FURTHER SO The Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake scored four world championship points at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas' eighth-place finish to open the season capped a good team performance throughout the weekend.
This result at the first race of the year places Team Stake in fifth place in the constructors' standings - as a reward for its hard work during the winter break. The four championship points scored in Bahrain also mean that the Sauber stake team is now a member of the club of Formula 1 teams that have already scored more than 1,000 points in their history.
Race Highlights | 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Continuous progress
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "The team did a really good job, we can be satisfied with the result. This result underlines our continuous progress and is a reward for the work we did during testing before the start of the season. We finished ahead of the McLaren and the Alpine. That's more than we could have hoped for."
... but there is still much to do
The drivers did superbly in the car, Zhou even setting the fastest lap of the race shortly before the finish. The strategic decisions and the pit stops were also good. Alunni Bravi also extends a big thank you to his colleagues at headquarters in Hinwil, who provided a competitive car, and to technical partner Ferrari, from whom the engines came. The race in Bahrain was a good start to the season, but there is still a lot to do.
Comments of the satisfied drivers
Valtteri Bottas (left gallery): "I'm really pleased with the race. Four points is a nice reward for the team and shows that the work everyone did during the winter is paying off. We proved that our car is fast and that we can keep up with the other teams in the midfield."
Zhou Guanyu adds: "It's nice that Valtteri was able to score points at the season opener. That's a good starting position for the team. The car felt better than in qualifying. That shows that development is going in the right direction. We need to find further improvements to be even faster in the next races."
Aston Martin caused a surprise
World champion Max Verstappen continues in the new Formula 1 season where he left off in his record year of 2022: The Dutchman easily wins the season opener in Bahrain. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez comes in second, twelve seconds behind. Red Bull's one-two finish is a perfect debut. With Fernando Alonso's podium finish, Aston Martin finally confirms the strong form of the tests and practice sessions in Bahrain.
