Frederic Vasseur revealed that after the issues faced during the pre-season testing, finishing P6 in the constructor standings seemed like the best scenario for the 2022 season.
During the pre-season testing, the Alfa Romeo team was concerned about what the results could be throughout the season. They were worried the car would not compete for points positions due to reliability issues.
However, after a great start to the season, the team managed to secure P6 in the standings, the best result for Alfa Romeo in ten years. This was possible, especially thanks to Valtteri Bottas’s incredible season, and also to some good performances by the rookie Guanyu Zhou.
“It was the best scenario that we could imagine,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.
“For sure, we still have to improve, and everything is not perfect. But at the end of the day, we are in a decent position.
“In terms of pure performance, we closed the gap with the top, and I’m also more than pleased with the development that we did over the season.
“The last three or four events [of the season], the pace was really good. For different reasons, we had bad momentum in the summer, but it is like it is.”
Vasseur also stressed that after the first tests in Barcelona, he feared having one of the worst seasons ahead of it because of the poor reliability of the car. However, he had faith in his team and everything worked out well.
“I was quite worried about the situation. But at the other end, thanks to the team, we had a very good reaction, and we were able to come back to T2 in Bahrain with a decent solution, and to be competitive in Bahrain for the race.”
