In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas has said that he expected Monte Carlo to flatter Alfa Romeo’s car far more than it did.
In brief
Monaco deficit should not repeat in Baku – Bottas
Valtteri Bottas expected Alfa Romeo’s car to be more competitive around the streets of Monte Carlo and was surprised to find it struggled with cambered corners.
“I think now it’s important for us to understand why,” Bottas said about the problems. “I feel like it’s something mechanically it doesn’t quite fit with these corners.”
Bottas finished ninth in the race, three places higher than he started. He expects the next track will suit his car better.
“For Baku I think they’re a little bit more like normal type of corners,” he said. “They’re more like 90-degree corners and not that much camber and off-cambers except in the old town. So I hope it’s better.”
Second Aston Martin car concept has more opportunity for development – Stroll
Lance Stroll is confident Aston Martin’s new car concept, unveiled in Barcelona, will allow the team to be more competitive at a wider range of tracks,
“I think there’s more opportunity with this car,” Stroll said after the Monaco Grand Prix, where team mate Sebastian Vettel the team’s first point since the Red Bull RB18-esque chassis was introduced.
“Even with the other the launch car, we were still, in some races, competitive,” Stroll explained. “In Imola we were okay, we were in the points there and then Miami we were in Q3 and the points. So we still had tracks but this car [in Barcelona] we were really struggling.
“I still think it’s the nature of the track, maybe the high-speed tracks we’ve still got to work on. I think we’re still weaker in the high speed corners, but in the low speed corners, this car seems to be a lot more competitive.
“I think there’s opportunity to develop the car in both high-speed and low-speed with this philosophy, which is good to see.”