Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, Monaco, 2022

Bottas expects better in Baku after Alfa Romeo’s Monaco disappointment

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In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas has said that he expected Monte Carlo to flatter Alfa Romeo’s car far more than it did.

In brief

Monaco deficit should not repeat in Baku – Bottas

Valtteri Bottas expected Alfa Romeo’s car to be more competitive around the streets of Monte Carlo and was surprised to find it struggled with cambered corners.

“I think now it’s important for us to understand why,” Bottas said about the problems. “I feel like it’s something mechanically it doesn’t quite fit with these corners.”

Bottas finished ninth in the race, three places higher than he started. He expects the next track will suit his car better.

“For Baku I think they’re a little bit more like normal type of corners,” he said. “They’re more like 90-degree corners and not that much camber and off-cambers except in the old town. So I hope it’s better.”

Second Aston Martin car concept has more opportunity for development – Stroll

Lance Stroll is confident Aston Martin’s new car concept, unveiled in Barcelona, will allow the team to be more competitive at a wider range of tracks,

“I think there’s more opportunity with this car,” Stroll said after the Monaco Grand Prix, where team mate Sebastian Vettel the team’s first point since the Red Bull RB18-esque chassis was introduced.

“Even with the other the launch car, we were still, in some races, competitive,” Stroll explained. “In Imola we were okay, we were in the points there and then Miami we were in Q3 and the points. So we still had tracks but this car [in Barcelona] we were really struggling.

“I still think it’s the nature of the track, maybe the high-speed tracks we’ve still got to work on. I think we’re still weaker in the high speed corners, but in the low speed corners, this car seems to be a lot more competitive.

“I think there’s opportunity to develop the car in both high-speed and low-speed with this philosophy, which is good to see.”

Mercedes surprised by Norris’ pace after Monaco red flag

Mercedes’ strategy in the Monaco Grand Prix help George Russell gain a place on Lando Norris and continue his run of top-five finishes.

However Norris’s pace in the final stint surprised Mercedes, who had not anticipated him finishing just 0.263 seconds behind Russell. This was aided by a tyre change which became possible after Fernando Alonso dropped back at an unexpectedly rapid rate.

“What we hadn’t expected were Lando’s times to be sustained at such a high rate,” trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said. “We hadn’t expected him to be so close to George at the end of the race. If we had known that, with hindsight we would have come in and taken the used hard even if we weren’t going to be in the fight for fastest lap.”

Jakarta Eprix set to test Askew’s thermal management

Formula E heads to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta this weekend. Rookie driver Oliver Askew expects the sweltering conditions of the local climate to pose a significant challenge.

“Jakarta is going to be the team’s first hot race of the calendar this year, and so thermal battery management is going to be a crucial factor of the weekend,” Askew said. Ambient temperatures of 31C heat with 70% humidity are expected during the race.

“As a rookie, this will be my first time in the car in which the humidity and high temperatures will play a major part in the race,” he continued. Formula E car batteries must not to exceed 88C, due to the stress of discharging and recharging via regeneration.

“But it’s a challenge that I’m looking forward too. It will also be my first time in Indonesia and it’s a country I’ve always wanted to visit.”

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Comment of the day

As Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles at McLaren deepen, Michael asks how a team can develop a car so unsuitable for one of its existing drivers:

It’s never easy turning it around. He’s obviously not comfortable in the car and the more it continues, the less comfortable he’ll get unless something changes in a favorable manner and makes Norris uncomfortable. This is a tough situation for sure. He’s not the only driver in this situation this year. We saw the same with Daniel and Sebastian in 2014 but he was on the other side of the equation.

I do find it fascinating how a team can make a car that doesn’t suit an existing driver on their team which is what we’re seeing with Schumacher, Gasly, Sainz, and Hamilton. I’m not sure Alonso love this car either.
@Freelittlebirds

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Jayantj, Rahim.Rg and Aditya Fakhri Yahya!

On this day in motorsport

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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One comment on “Bottas expects better in Baku after Alfa Romeo’s Monaco disappointment”

  1. I’m surprised today’s round-up didn’t appear until the evening.
    Anyway, we’ll see if Alfa will fare better in Baku.

    I was also surprised how Norris could claw back 30+ seconds within the remaining race distance.

    Miami Herald: Finally.

    COTD: Surprising & even slightly puzzling.

Comments are closed.