Alfa Romeo with upgrades in Australia: 'Confident of successful weekend'

Alfa Romeo's result last weekend was less than optimal. Valtteri Bottas crossing the finish line with the utmost difficulty and Guanyu Zhou ending up in 13th place. These were not the outcomes the Swiss team was hoping for, obviously. In Melbourne, they will appear at the start with new upgrades.

Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi expects a fun atmosphere around what he calls the "modern classic". "The fans on the Melbourne Walk are a great sight and everyone makes us feel at home – even on the other side of the world.” So tells Alunni Bravi in a press release from his team.

Bottas with confidence

Bottas, who crossed the finish line last in Jeddah, goes into this weekend with fresh courage. "I am really keen on scoring a good result for the team on a track I like: I strongly believe our car has the potential to do well, and leave the tough weekend we had in Saudi behind."

The 33-year-old Finnish driver also says he got behind the wheel on a special occasion just last weekend. "I was at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival last weekend, where I drove an Aussie V8 and a classic Alfa Romeo touring car – so I’m already in the mood for racing." Bottas said.

The slightly better-performing Zhou sees performance improving rapidly in the near future. "We know what we need to do to bring home the points: we also have some updates to test, and we’re confident we can have a successful weekend.”

Alfa Romeo has currently managed to secure four constructors' points. The team finished eighth last year and is currently sixth in the standings.