In Formula 1, there is never a boring moment.
Following a back-to-back in Austria and Britain and before another back-to-back in Hungary and the Netherlands, this was supposed to be a calm week off.
But on Monday, the unexpected announcement that Daniel Ricciardo was returning to the grid struck like a bolt from the sky.
AlphaTauri and Red Bull decided that they had seen enough of Nyck de Vries after just ten races. Ricciardo replaced the rookie and joined AlphaTauri on loan for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, with F1 having a bye week after the British Grand Prix, it is time to assess where each of the ten teams is in front of Budapest.
What is the largest issue each team is currently experiencing, working from the bottom of the Constructors rankings to the top?
It is now time to focus on Alfa Romeo, the team that is ranked above AlphaTauri in the standings.
Can Alfa Romeo benefit from this upgrading package in any way?
Alfa Romeo has had a challenging year; they are currently ranked ninth among constructors, just ahead of AlphaTauri.
a group that recently switched drivers.
Valtteri Bottas’ eighth-place performance in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix was their best finish of the year. Points have been hard to come by ever since, and upgrades have been slow to help.
According to Bottas before the Miami Grand Prix, the team’s primary problem early in the season was a lack of straight-line speed.
Back in May, Bottas said, “Straight-line speed hasn’t really been a strength for us. “I think we made a little bit of progress in Baku with a different wing on the straight-line speed, but obviously it means that you compromise the corner,” the author said.
As the team exited the British Grand Prix, there were no points to show for their efforts despite hopes that an upgrade package they brought to Silverstone would solve the problem.
That was primarily brought on by mechanical issues on Saturday, which caused Bottas to start at the rear of the race and limited teammate Zhou Guanyu in Q1, qualifying just in 18th place.
Even while they gained some headway on Sunday, they haven’t yet noticed the full impact of their industrial work.
Following the British Grand Prix, Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said, “Today, we must pay tribute to our team and drivers for the job done, in a race that wasn’t set to be easy for us: overall, we have recovered ten positions, eight with Valtteri and two with Zhou, as proof that if we carry out a perfect race, we can get into the fight for points.
“Yesterday was not our day, and of course, starting from the back is never easy, but today we showed an improvement in race pace compared to previous events, which gives us confidence for the next two races before the summer break.”
Our goal will be to better optimize our new package there, he continued, “so that we can compete from Friday onwards and regain positions in the Constructors’ Championship.”
If Alfa Romeo receives this upgrade package, the question may be whether they will be able to gain ground on their rivals rather than just keep up with them.
Bottas acknowledged at Silverstone that the team had high expectations for this season and is currently working hard to make up for lost time.
At the British Grand Prix, Bottas stated, “I think at this point we are approaching halfway through the season and we’ve not been able to really move up the order.” “We were hoping to outperform last year,”
The Alfa Romeo driver continued, “Our immediate competitors brought modifications, and compared to AlphaTauri, Haas, we can be battling with them, as we are faster than them. “Williams currently seems to be the only issue, in my opinion.
They were competing against Ferrari and even Aston Martin because of their excellent performance. We must determine if their recent performances are indicative of their strength.
“But for us, we can see that all the disparities are rather minor and that there can be some variation from race to race. It’s only two points to them, so on our end, we’ll just keep working to improve our package, driving, and everything else, Bottas said. “So we remain optimistic that we can pass Williams and Haas from now until [August] shutdown. That is our goal.
Will that new package achieve that objective at last?
