Alfa Romeo has revealed they will be bringing a major upgrade package for this weekend’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix, in an effort to get back into the points.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake travels to Silverstone, the birthplace of Formula 1 for the British Grand Prix. Additionally the team is going back to its roots since Nino Farina and the automaker won the first Formula 1 World Championship race on this same Northamptonshire track in 1950.
The Swiss based outfit reavealed they will be bringing major upgrades to Silverstone.
A significant flaw in Alfa Romeo’s current package will be addressed by a major upgrade slated for the British Grand Prix this coming weekend, according to Valtteri Bottas.
In Austria, Alfa Romeo dropped to eighth place in the standings behind Haas after failing to challenge for the top 10, despite having earned points in the previous two races.
In recent races, the Swiss team has frequently brought updated parts to the track, but the Silverstone modification is considered as particularly crucial because it aims to boost the C43’s performance in fast corners, an area where the car has been struggling.
Bottas claims that previous upgrades have already had a good effect, but this has been somewhat obscured by dismal qualifying runs in challenging wet conditions in both Spain and Canada.
“I think performance wise we just haven’t had normal conditions for a while,” the Alfa Romeo driver said. “We had rain in Barcelona, rain in Montreal, so there’s more variability.
“So with these new upgrades, we haven’t really seen how the quali performance is in a normal condition.
“All the way until qualifying the performance was quite OK, every session I was in top 10. So I think it’s encouraging.
“We obviously still have the same car here. But then we have another upgrade for Silverstone. So yeah, I’m really hoping for a dry weekend here to see where we are and get standard conditions and so on.
“I think at least it’s looking a bit more promising now than for example before Monaco.”
At short events like Austria, where teams only have FP1 to sort their cars, Bottas claimed the C43’s strength is an underlying good balance that enables the team to start weekends on a solid footing.
“The biggest asset I would say is how it behaves,” he added. “The balance overall is quite nice, that way in the race it’s actually quite good for the tyres.
“And also recently it feels like we’ve been able to predict setups pretty well, so we’ve only had to do minor changes in the race weekend, so hopefully that helps us this weekend if we get it right again.
“And weaknesses, still obviously high-speed corners are not our strength, definitely. And the upgrade we have for Silverstone is actually improving the high-speed performance without any losses.”
Valtteri Bottas’ race in Austria was compromised by early damage and the Finn is eager to sample the updated C43.
“Undoubtedly, we expected more from Austria, as we were coming from a couple of decent results in a row,” he said after the Austrian Grand Prix. “It was a tough one for the team, as we struggled throughout the whole weekend – and on top of that, also saw the Sunday race being compromised and thus our chances to recover through the field.
“I am looking forward to racing in Silverstone this weekend, another timeless classic on the calendar. We are bringing a new package there, which should help us regain the form we had shown last month.
“We know on which areas we need to work on to improve our performance, and everyone in the team, both trackside and back home in Hinwil, has been putting all their efforts on it.
“It will be crucial to get these upgrades right from the first practice sessions, to put ourselves back in the fight.”
Alfa Romeo Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said : “We head to Britain this week, after a challenging weekend in Austria, where our performances didn’t quite match what we had shown in previous races.
“Still, we must keep our spirits up: we are bringing a new, important package to Silverstone, on which the team back at base in Hinwil has been working hard over the past months, and it’ll hopefully help us make our way back to the top ten.
“We have seen how upgrades have been fundamental for our main competitors to make a step forward: that will be our main aim, for the second leg of this back-to-back.
“We remain confident, and eager to show that Austria just wasn’t our weekend, but we still have it in us to battle through the field – and promptly change the tide again.”
