Alfa Romeo tests new parts: 'A step forward'

Alfa Romeo is less competitive at the start of the season than last season, but the team of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou brought updates to Australia, and they seem to be working well to help rectify their poor start.

Alfa Romeo has only managed to score one points finish this season, with Bottas finishing eighth in Bahrain. Last year, the Swiss team's big problem was reliability, but this season that seems to have been rectified, only the speed is not as good. For the Australian Grand Prix, the team had brought a new front wing, among other things, to improve performance.

Bottas: 'Updates have positive results'

Bottas finished 18th and 12th in the first and second practice sessions, respectively. So, judging by the improved results, there was progression between practice sessions, and Lewis Hamilton's old teammate also felt his car was better in the second practice.

"I wasn’t entirely happywith the balance of the car during FP1, but we changed the setup ahead of FP2 and tested the new nose and front wing with positive results. Overall, I am feeling good ahead of the weekend: there is still some work to do and some time to find, but we are on the right path," said the Finn in his team's press release.

Zhou: 'Are in better shape than times show'

It is sometimes said that the stopwatch never lies in Formula 1, but Zhou thinks otherwise. The Chinese finished 19th and 18th in practice, but says his team is in better shape than the times say. He is happy with the updates and calls them a step forward for his team.

"The initial feeling today is quite positive and I think we’re in a better place than the times would show. We had some good preparation and feedback from the car, and I was able to try the new updates which seem to be a step forward. Of course, we need a little more running in dry conditions to have a clearer idea: the rain changed our plans a little," Zhou said in the press release.