Stake F1 Edges Closer to Midfield Battle in Mexico

Stake F1 displayed encouraging progress in Mexico as Bottas and Zhou fought competitively, despite finishing outside the points.

Stake F1 Team spent an afternoon battling in the midfield in Mexico, with Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou showing improved pace with their C44s.

Although they finished far from the points, in 14th and 15th positions, it represents a step forward compared to recent races, with Bottas even managing to reach Q2.

“I think we maximized our performance in the race,” commented Bottas, “even if the final result wasn’t as good as I hoped. Nonetheless, we made progress, and that’s what we need to take into the next race.”

“At the start, I got a bit stuck, which limited my ability to gain positions. After that, the race was relatively straightforward, as we followed our planned strategy and even extended the first stint by a few laps.”

“Even if it wasn’t the best possible result in terms of final position, the positive is that we were able to fight more effectively than we have recently. Our pace matched some of our closest competitors, and we managed to improve our performance, which gives us confidence for the upcoming races.”

“Now, we need to focus on the next upgrade and ensure it’s as effective as the last one, and we hope it arrives soon. This will hopefully allow us to take another step in this direction.”

Zhou highlighted “a rather difficult race, with brake overheating early on, which forced us to back off regularly throughout the race, compromising our pace each lap. It’s definitely something we need to look into to understand the root cause of the issue.”

“We felt we could do more, but we still managed to hold on and remain competitive with the cars around us. It’s a step forward, something we hadn’t achieved in the past few races, so it’s an encouraging improvement.”

“The team will continue working hard, and with São Paulo approaching, we’ll give it our all to be even closer to the midfield.”