Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou faced challenges in Imola, both missing out on Q2. The Stake F1 drivers need improved pace to compete effectively.
Valtteri Bottas narrowly missed out on Q2 at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, qualifying 16th for tomorrow’s race. The Stake F1 driver could have done better, but he acknowledges the difficulty of putting everything together on this track.
“Starting 16th is tough, but that’s where we are over one lap, especially with these tight margins. It was challenging with the wind and gusts, and like everyone else, if I could go out again, I’d find a few hundredths!” Bottas said.
“It’s a circuit where it’s easy to make mistakes. We’ve seen a lot of errors in practice. The pace is there, but we’ll need a bit of luck and action to climb up in the race.”
Guanyu Zhou will start 17th, just behind his teammate. While disappointed with the raw result, the Chinese driver is pleased to have significantly closed the massive gap he had in FP3 this morning.
“There was more potential, but I understand better now. This morning, I was a second off and didn’t get it, I had no grip in the corners. We made big changes to understand, and we’re in the pack in qualifying. But the pace isn’t enough,” Zhou said.
“It will be difficult, all the races have been DRS trains, and there’s only one detection zone at Imola. We’re good at tire management but lack top speed, so we’ll try to do our best.”
Bottas and Zhou Fall Short in Imola Qualifying. Bottas and Zhou Fall Short in Imola Qualifying
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