Alfa Romeo, the beautiful surprise of the start of the 2022 F1 season

It is undoubtedly one of the big surprises of the early season. Alfa Romeo is fifth in the constructor standings after five races. The Swiss team has already accumulated 31 points, more than double last year’s total (13). A real surprise for Alfa Romeo, which had grown accustomed to being at the back of the grid for several years. Formerly known as Sauber, the team has not finished higher than eighth in the constructor standings since 2013.

But in 2022, the cards were reshuffled with the regulatory revolution and everyone started over with a clean slate. It was an opportunity for the smaller teams to try and catch up with the top teams. Alfa didn’t miss out on its transition, on the contrary. Despite significant reliability issues during pre-season testing, Fred Vasseur, the team director, knew the potential of the C42 during the Bahrain tests.

« I have some information because we are close to some of our competitors. In terms of performance, I think we are really not far behind.

» he said, enigmatic, into Julien Fébreau’s microphone. The future proved him right.

Bottas, a second spring

The one who is largely responsible for Alfa Romeo’s accounting progress is Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver, who arrived after five seasons with Mercedes, took on the role of number 1 and serves as a reference for his rookie teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Often mocked during his time with the German team for his level far from that of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas is proving to those who doubted him that he is a very good driver. Right from Bahrain, the Finn secured a superb sixth place on the starting grid just behind… Hamilton and three places ahead of his successor George Russell. He maintains this position at the end of the Grand Prix, scoring eight points.

In Jeddah, the native of Nastola repeats by qualifying eighth, but is forced to retire. Bottas regains momentum in Australia, where he fails to make it to Q3, ending his record streak of 103 consecutive Q3 appearances, but finishes the race in eighth place. Then, in Imola, eighth in qualifying, he gains a position during the sprint to start seventh on Sunday.

During the Grand Prix, he takes an excellent fifth place. Finally, in Miami, he sets the fifth fastest time in qualifying, Alfa Romeo’s best result since 2019, and finishes seventh after making one of his first errors of the season, which costs him a potential fifth place, allowing both Mercedes to pass him.

Valtteri Bottas has scored 30 out of 31 points for his team, lifting Alfa Romeo at the beginning of this season. He is only 6 points behind Lewis Hamilton, despite being equipped with a better car. This is a real satisfaction for Bottas, who had a 54-point gap compared to the seven-time world champion at the same time last year with equal cars.

Moreover, the Alfa Romeo driver has had the luxury of beating his former teammate 3 to 2 in qualifying. Valtteri Bottas has definitely regained the driving skills he demonstrated at Williams before gradually declining at Mercedes. And the season is not over for him, as he aimed for a podium finish with his new team this year.

Zhou, promising start but unlucky

For Guanyu Zhou, on the other hand, the accounting aspect hurts. The Chinese driver only scored one point out of his team’s 31. A seemingly disappointing record but above all not quite representative of the rookie’s performances.

First of all, he scored his only point in his very first race in Bahrain, finishing in tenth place. A great result for someone who had faced numerous criticisms after the announcement of his arrival at Alfa Romeo.

In Saudi Arabia, in the 13th lap, Zhou misses his start (a recurring phenomenon for Alfa Romeo at the beginning of the season) and falls to last place. During his climb back up, he overtakes Albon outside of the track limits and incurs a five-second penalty to be served during his pit stop. However, during his passage through the pit lane, the mechanics touch the car without waiting for 5 seconds, and Zhou is penalized again, sentenced to a “drive-through” (a passage through the pit lane without stopping).

The Chinese driver finally finished eleventh just outside the points, behind Lewis Hamilton. The same story repeated in Australia with another cruel eleventh place, falling victim to the brilliant strategic move by Alex Albon who snatched away the tenth place point from him.

At Imola, Zhou, starting 14th in the sprint race, collides with Pierre Gasly, ending his race and condemning him to start from the pit lane the next day. Helpless under the Italian rain, Guanyu Zhou only finishes fifteenth.

Finally in Miami, the Chinese driver had another stroke of bad luck. He was eliminated in Q1 and starts 17th, with a very frustrating retirement for Guanyu Zhou.

> “Abandoned after only six rounds, very frustrated.”

If he is widely overshadowed by his teammate in qualifying (never entered Q3 compared to Bottas’ four times), Zhou hasn’t been lucky in the race. Even though the young Chinese driver still needs to work on certain flaws, the debut is promising and there is no doubt that he will quickly return to scoring points to help Alfa Romeo continue an already great season.