Bahrain Pre-Season Test – Day 1
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN had a busy and successful first day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas completing more than a century of laps behind the wheel of the C42.
With this mileage in the bag, work will continue tomorrow with the drivers once again sharing the day, Valtteri driving in the morning before Zhou returns for the afternoon session.
Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit / 5.412 km
Driver: Zhou Guanyu (morning); Valtteri Bottas (afternoon);
Chassis / engine: Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42-02 / Ferrari
Laps: 54 laps, 292.25km (ZHO); 66 laps, 357.19 km (BOT)
Fastest Lap: 1:37.164 (ZHO); 1:35.495 (BOT)
Zhou Guanyu (Car 24): "Today was definitely a step forward from Barcelona. We were able to do a good number of laps, which was a way to build up familiarity with the car. Every time you step into the cockpit you get a little more confident so a day like today was really good. Of course, there's still a lot of work to do and we need to understand the car better: we will try a few things, in different conditions, in the next few sessions but we can be happy about the work we have done today."
Valtteri Bottas (Car 77): "It was a good day in the car, getting a lot of laps under our belt and following our run plan until the red flag at the very end of the session. With this mileage, I was able to first get a proper feel for the car and then focus on some set-up work, finding how the car responds, what it needs. It's nice to feel and see the progress throughout the day: the team did a good job since Barcelona, it was a good recovery after a challenging start but we are heading in the right direction."
