周冠宇

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake delivered a solid performance in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas in 12th and 13th position respectively, narrowly missing out on a spot in Q3. Today's result was testament to the good work done by the team, which set up the drivers' C43s on the back of a single hour of practice ahead of qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas.

The team will now be asked for another positive performance in tomorrow's Sprint Shootout and Sprint, an additional occasion to score points ahead of the main event, Sunday's Grand Prix.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today has been a positive qualifying session for us, even going beyond our initial performance expectations on this track. This is proof that the latest upgrade we have brought this weekend is working, and has allowed us to make a further step forward. Of course, there is a slight bittersweet taste to today’s results, as we thought we could even make it into Q3. Still, we must pay tribute to the whole team, who was able to rapidly make strong gains from free practice, working hard to put our two drivers in the condition to deliver a strong qualifying performance, as well as to Valtteri and Zhou, for the positive job done on track. Today's outcome places us in a favourable position to deliver even stronger results on Sunday, as well as in tomorrow's standalone Sprint event."

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
FP: 17th / 1:37.517 (24 laps)
Q1: 1:36.082 (9 laps)
Q2: 13th / 1:35.858 (6 laps)

"Today's result wasn't bad, and I think it's promising to be this close to the top ten: with a decent start, we'll be able to build something on it and fight for points in Sunday's race. It is hot out there, but with less humidity, which makes it more comfortable to drive compared to the most recent events, like Singapore and Qatar. Finding the right balance with just one hour of practice is not easy, and there are obviously things that could be improved, but it's probably the same for everyone else: I think my biggest struggle today were my tyres overheating in the last sector, which made putting together a clean lap more difficult, especially where hundredths of seconds can make the difference. Still, we're not far from the top ten, which is the main positive from today. Tomorrow will be a standalone day, with its own qualifying and race: our main focus remains on Sunday's main event, but we will still look out for any opportunity to score a few points."

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
FP: 16th / 1:37.418 (25 laps)
Q1: 1:36.052 (9 laps)
Q2: 12th / 1:35.698 (6 laps)

"I believe, looking at today's results, that we can definitely be in the mix for points on Sunday; we made an improvement as a team, despite struggling a bit during Free Practice. Between the sessions, we were able to improve our car balance, which allowed us to build some rhythm in qualifying and to get in the fight for Q3, ultimately missing it by less than three thousandths of a second: a positive result, but with some mixed feelings as we could have potentially made a further step forward. Still, we can consider ourselves satisfied with the job done today, and I am confident it'll also allow us to have a much cleaner Saturday. The leading teams clearly have an advantage in terms of pace, but I reckon we can definitely challenge our main competitors and climb our way into the top ten on Sunday."