French GP: Valtteri Bottas eager to restore Alfa Romeo to points

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas says that he is fully focused on finishing inside the points paying places this weekend at the French Grand Prix.

The Finnish driver has had a couple of tough races along with his time, with Alfa unable to score points both in Silverstone and Spielberg over the last two Grands Prix of the calendar.

Certainly, that is a poor return for them given how well they’ve been going this year, and it’s testament to the improvements they’ve made this season that they’re disappointed by that, though obviously an incident like Zhou Guanyu’s at the British Grand Prix can hardly be legislated for.

Even so, as the second half of the season begins this weekend in France, they will be itching to make amends and gain some of the ground lost in the Constructors’ championship, with Bottas saying that a return to the points is the aim this weekend:

“Paul Ricard is a circuit I have quite enjoyed in the past years, having also collected a podium finish here in 2019.

“It’s not too far from where I live, so it has almost a bit of a home race feeling for me. We know we have to keep our confidence high: our target this weekend, just like any other, is to bring home a good result. I was disappointed to finish just outside the points in Spielberg, but the positive was a good recovery from a pitlane start and some good battles.

“The midfield fight is going to be once again very close and, just as last year, when we had some pretty good overtakes, the race should be an entertaining one. We need to put our focus onto doing our best job on track and get back where we belong: in the points.”