2023 Mexican Grand Prix – Friday report
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake had a solid start to its Mexican Grand Prix weekend, as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu closed the day showing the competitiveness of the C43. Earlier in the day, the team’s reserve driver, Théo Pourchaire, also took to the car in lieu of Valtteri, but his FP1 action was reduced by a technical problem to the brake-by-wire system that forced him in the garage for most of the session.
Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
FP1: Did not take part
FP2: 4th / 1:18.955 (33 laps)
“I am pleased with how today went: thankfully, we found the issue that affected our car during FP1, and we were able to address it and quickly solve it between the sessions; I would like to thank our mechanics for the hard work put in to get the car back on track. Of course, it was a shame for Théo to miss such an important outing, but I am positive he’ll be back in the car soon. Overall, FP2 has been a clean session, which is important as it was the only practice of the day for me. I got a good number of laps under my belt, and the feeling with the car was generally pretty good. Still, it is only Friday: now our focus will go onto further improving both the setup and my confidence with the track, to fine-tune our car and place ourselves in comfortable positions ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying.”
Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
FP1: 13th / 1:21.129 (27 laps)
FP2: 13th / 1:19.415 (27 laps)
“It was a solid start to our weekend, the car felt good today. We tried different things to extract the potential we missed in Austin and everything seemed to come together. I do not think we are too far off the top ten, but the key in qualifying and the race will be to get everything right when it matters. Looking at the lap time and at our pace, we improved a lot as a team. When the track returned to regular conditions this afternoon, we seemed to be picking up where we left off last year, and if we can keep this level, we should be competitive. I believe we have enough data to go through tonight to continue making steps to be fighting for Q3 tomorrow.”
Théo Pourchaire (car number 98):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
FP1: 20th / No time set
FP2: Did not take part
“I’m grateful to the team for this opportunity, even though we didn’t get much in terms of laps today. Unfortunately, I suffered an issue on the braking system at the beginning of the session, which prevented me to get any running throughout FP1 – the priority was, rightly, to promptly investigate the problem. Of course, it is a bit frustrating, as I was really looking forward to driving the C43 out on track; still, it’s all part of motorsport, and something like this can happen at any time – and, at least, it was during practice. On a positive note, the team was able to quickly address the issue and solve it between the sessions, so that Valtteri could get some proper track time this afternoon. I am hopeful I will get some more time in the car, but now, I will resume my reserve driver duties, while putting my focus on the Formula 2 finale which will take place in a little less than a month. There’s a job to be done and I want to give 100% towards my objective.”
