Valtteri Bottas had a great opening for Alfa Romeo in Bahrain, qualifying sixth and ending sixth, his best performance with the team since 2019. But the Finn’s performance could have been much better if he hadn’t plummeted to 14th following a poor start.

Valtteri Bottas admits he wasn’t optimistic stepping to the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix because of a string of poor practise starts.

Bottas started in a strong sixth position but slipped to 14th on the first lap due to traction issues, later admitting that he had got to spend the formation lap fretting about his getaway.

“I was not so confident going to the grid, because 50 per cent of the starts we had in practice and testing were bad, so it’s an area we need to work on,” Bottas told media.

“I just had big wheelspin and cooked the rear tyres, and was still wheel-spinning in third gear – then the first lap I was sliding around and was a bit of a sitting duck.

“[The problem] is a mechanical thing. Sometimes we have this vibration on the clutch. It happens 50 per cent of the time and, when it happens, it’s quite easy to break the traction, so it’s on the [to-do] list, and we’re working on it.”

Alfa Romeo will target Haas in the future

Bottas came second to Kevin Magnussen in the race, revealing that Alfa Romeo is attempting to overtake Haas in the midfield of Formula One.

“Having both cars in the top 10 is a lot better than [Alfa Romeo] have been used to in recent years,” added Bottas.

“I think the next target for us is Haas, they have a strong car – Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, they’re a bit further away.

“But at least we’re almost there and best of the rest of the moment, so it’s not a bad starting point.”

Bottas praises Zhou’s debut as a rookie teammate

Zhou Guanyu, Bottas’ rookie teammate, also collected points in Bahrain, finishing 10th, and the Finn praised his new comrade’s strong debut.

“To get a point [on debut] is a big achievement, so it was really good to see. I think he had a good race,” said Bottas, who also hailed Zhou’s work ethic.

“He’s a super nice guy and he’s really willing to learn, and actually, when he gets feedback, when he looks at the data, he can always make a step forward.

“He’s a quick learner, so I’m expecting a big improvement from Guanyu over the year.”

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