Valtteri Bottas confesses that Alfa Romeo’s progress has been stagnant for quite a while. Since the implementation of the new ‘base impact’ regulations last year, the Alfa Romeo F1 team managed to gain an early advantage by being closer to the minimum weight compared to most other teams.
“We exceeded expectations, performing much better than anticipated,” the 34-year-old Finnish driver confessed to Motorsport-magazin.com. However, their progress has since decelerated as the team prepares to bid farewell to the Alfa Romeo brand and transition to a fully-fledged Audi works structure by 2026. Bottas expressed his disappointments, stating, “I had an exceptional start last year, but unfortunately, I have not made any significant advancements since then.” Bottas shared his frustration with Blick, mentioning that his performance “fell short of what I had envisioned. Not even the upgrade in Singapore managed to salvage the situation.”
Earlier this year, Sauber decided to part ways with Yann Mongchaud, and James Key assumed the role of McLaren’s technical director, securing his own office. Despite this, Bottas believes that the team requires an enlarged staff. “The reality is that most teams have a greater number of personnel and a larger budget, so we still need to improve in that aspect,” Bottas disclosed, referring to the approximately 600-strong staff at Hinwil. Unquestionably, more personnel will be recruited in the forthcoming years to prepare for the Audi works team operations. “I’ve heard rumors that Audi will amass considerable strength by 2026. Although it’s still a while away, it will eventually come to fruition, and at least Sauber possesses a clear plan of action. A lot of groundwork has certainly been undertaken,” Bottas commented with an assuring smile. “I am not concerned that there won’t be any changes. The team has recently undergone certain restructurings, and I am hopeful that we will witness further developments next year.”
Valtteri Bottas admits Alfa Romeo’s “progress” has been lacking for some time. When the new ‘base impact’ rules came into force last year, the Alfa Romeo F1 team gained an early advantage by being closer to the minimum weight than most other teams.
“We overperformed, much better than expected,” the 34-year-old admitted to Motorsport-magazin.com. But progress has since slowed as the company prepares to ditch the Alfa Romeo brand and move to a full Audi works structure for 2026. “I had a really good start last year, but I haven’t made any progress since then ,” Bottas told Blick. “It wasn’t as good as I expected. Or maybe that’s what I wanted. The upgrade in Singapore didn’t help either.” Earlier this year, Sauber parted ways with Yann Mongchaud and James Key became McLaren’s technical director. He took an office. But Bottas says the team needs more staff. “The reality is that most teams have more people and more budget, so we still need to improve on that,” Bottas said of Hinwil’s staff of around 600. There is no doubt that more staff will get added in the coming years to prepare for the activities of the Audi work team. “I heard that Audi will be quite strong in 2026. That’s the rumour,” smiled Bottas. “It’s still a little way off, but it will happen soon eventually and at least Sauber has a clear plan for what’s going on and a lot of work has definitely been done already “I’m not worried that there won’t be any There has been a bit of re-structuring of the team recently and I hope next year we’ll see a bit more of that.”
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