GlobeAir motorsport partner coverage 18 - 20 November 2022

Motorsports weekend recap directly from GlobeAir partners

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, Lechner Racing, Esteban Ocon, Seb Ogier and Stoffel Vandoorne

With a solid connection to Aviation, GlobeAir is a proud supporter of all motorsport championships and races. We are proud partners with Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN and Lechner Racing, and our Brand Ambassadors include Esteban Ocon, Seb Ogier and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Make sure to come back every week where we will update you on the latest from Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup, Formula 1® Racing, Formula E | FIA Formula E and WRC.com® | FIA World Rally Championship.

To strengthen the connection even further, GlobeAir will provide weekly updates across all the races from all the weekend races to bring you the latest recaps and behind-the-scenes news you may have missed.

Check back every Monday to read the latest updates from the weekend!

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 18 - 20 November

Formula 1® Racing - Abu Dhabi

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN reached the promised land as it clinched a sixth place in the constructors' championship. A successful season ended in a race that yielded no points but in which every team effort was directed at securing the team's season target.

55 points is the team's final tally, one that secures the team's best standings position in a decade. It is a result that is a testament to the efforts of everyone in the company, trackside and Hinwil, as the scenes of celebration in front of the team's garage attested.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Tonight is the crowning of an incredible job by everyone in the team, both trackside and in Hinwil. Finishing in P6 in the championship surpasses our expectations and the targets we had set at the beginning of the season, so we can thoroughly say that this season was a success: I am proud of what we have achieved, but this is just another starting point on which we want to build. Tonight's race was just about the championship result: we knew that, starting from far back, scoring points on our own would have been hard, but we could work as a team and make strategic decisions to make the fight for P6 lean in our direction. In the end, it turned out a bit more tense than we would have hoped after Hamilton's retirement, and the last few laps were a nail-biting affair! But we brought it home, this is what matters, and you can see what it really means to all of us."
Valtteri Bottas: "I am really pleased for the team, it's an important result and you can see what it means for everyone of us. It was close, very close in our battle for sixth in the championship, but we did it and I am proud of everyone tonight. The only thing that mattered to us today was the standings results and the strategy we chose was quite defensive, trying to hold position and slow down our rivals when we found ourselves in front of them. It worked, but it was a tense few moments in the final lap: waiting to hear if we had made it gave me a bit of a sense of deja vu - although tonight we had a much more positive ending than last time around. I am proud of how the team came a long way since winter testing: we scored a lot of points at the beginning of the year and those results made all the difference at the end of the season. The spirit in the team is excellent, we can be proud of our work and this will help us continue our progression next year. There's plenty to look forward to."
Zhou Guanyu: "I am so proud of this team, not just for tonight but for the whole season. We gave everything in the race and, despite not scoring points, we achieved our target, which was finishing P6 in the Championship. We had to sacrifice my strategy to hold on through the last laps, and I think we did a good job with that. We truly gave it all out there, it was an amazing fight on track and I think also the best overtake I've done all season. We got what we deserved after such a long year. It's been an amazing rookie season, we started high and it's good to see we finished on a high as well. Of course, it hasn't always gone as we hoped for, we had quite a few reliability issues, but I'm positive we'll get it all fixed over the winter and have a much better season next year. Overall, I really enjoyed my first Formula One season, with all the support from my team, my teammate Valtteri, and all the fans. I am grateful for all this and I can't wait for the next one."

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team clinched fourth place in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Constructors' Championship after Esteban Ocon claimed six points from today's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The team ends the year on 173 points, with Esteban on 92 points to take eighth place in the Drivers' Championship.

The strategy proved the key in the 58-lap race with tough decisions throughout the field in opting for a one-stop or two-stop plan. Esteban committed to a two-stop, pitting on laps 14 and 41 for Hard tyres. In the end, Esteban narrowly missed out on pipping Lando Norris, crossing the line just one second behind his McLaren rival.

Esteban Ocon: "I would like to say a massive congratulations to the whole team, here trackside and at the factories in Viry and Enstone, for claiming fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. It's been a long and intense season and it feels good to have reached the goal we set at the beginning of the year. On my side, it is the best points finish of my career, so that is very satisfying. In terms of today's race, seventh place is a great result and, with one more lap, it could have been sixth as I was catching Lando [Norris] at the end. I have enjoyed the last couple of years with Fernando and I wish him all the best for next year. He will always be a legend of this team and, of the sport, and I look forward to racing him on-track next season. Now it's time for a break before getting back to work to prepare for next year."

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 11 - 13 November

Formula 1® Racing - Sao Paulo

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN produced a strong display to bring home two points at the Brazilian Grand Prix, courtesy of Valtteri Bottas's ninth place. Zhou Guanyu, also had a good race and ran in the points for the majority of the afternoon before closing in 12th position.

It was a convincing performance by the team, despite a late safety car that prevented an even better result. The two points claimed extend to five points the advantage to the closest rivals for sixth place in the constructors' championship ahead of next week's finale in Abu Dhabi.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "The team did a really good job today and we were able to turn the weekend around and leave with a good result. Both yesterday and today we have shown good pace and made up a lot of ground and we can be satisfied to leave Brazil with an increased gap over our closest rivals. We had a good start and were able to run as high as fifth during the race: it's a shame the late Safety Car nullified our advantage and put us within range of other cars, but we still brought home the points we wanted. Most importantly, it was yet another event in which we showed good form, as we did in Mexico, so we can approach the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi with confidence: we can be in the mix for points once again and hopefully clinch sixth place in the championship."
Valtteri Bottas: "I'm happy about today's race and we're happy as a team. Everyone did a really good job - to go from 14th on the grid to ninth at the flag definitely classes as a good result. We could have been even higher, but the Safety Car at the end didn't really play in our favour: it cancelled the advantage we had on the cars behind us, and it left us exposed. Still, we scored more than our direct rivals so we can't complain too much. I did enjoy myself today, I was in some good fights and the car's pace was strong. I also want to give big thanks to Zhou for being a true team player today. We have been in good form in the last few events, we have one more to go to get the job done but we approach it with confidence."
Zhou Guanyu: "Overall, we can be quite happy about the weekend, especially when you look at how we started, compared to where we finished. Our focus was to maximise the team's potential, and I'm confident we've managed that. Still, today has been a bit difficult on my part: I got my drink system straw stuck in my helmet at the beginning of the race, before managing to remove it, but, later on, we suffered from some turbo issues, something we will have to investigate ahead of next week. We pitted early, aiming to undercut other drivers, but then towards the end, the Safety Car made it quite difficult for us to keep up, especially because we didn't have many tyres left. Nevertheless, it's good to see that the team managed to bring home some more points to give us a good position for the constructors' championship ahead of the final race."

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team scored 14 points from today's Sao Paulo Grand Prix after Esteban Ocon from sixteenth to eighth in a brilliant team display at an excited Interlagos.

Esteban Ocon: "It's a great result for the team today and I'm very happy with our race. We maximised the different strategies on both cars and scored fourteen points heading into the last race of the season. It was a good recovery drive from Fernando and me after starting from where we did, so credit to the team for the execution. We knew we had to be at our best after yesterday's disappointment and that's exactly what we did in the race. The season is not over and we still have one more race to go. It's going to be full push until the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi."

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 28 - 30 October

Formula 1® Racing - Mexico City

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN brought home one valuable point from the Mexican Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas finished tenth, with team-mate Zhou Guanyu in 13th. It was a challenging race for the team, but the final reward of one point allowed it to extend its lead for P6 in the constructors' standings to four points.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "A point is always valuable, especially when it allows us to extend the gap on our championship rivals; of course, when starting in P6 and with the pace we showed throughout the weekend, the hopes and expectations were for more, but in the end the race didn't really go our way. We seemed to have the pace to be at the front of the chasing pack, just behind the three leading teams, during our first stint, but we weren't able to make the most of the hard tyres after Valtteri's stop and we slowly dropped off. Zhou was on an alternative strategy, but also seemed to struggle in the second part of the race and wasn't able to make back the places he had before the stop. We'll analyse this race and see what can be done better; in the meantime, we will keep building on the speed we've shown on Friday and Saturday, aiming to make the most of the final two weekends of the season to finish the job properly."
Valtteri Bottas: "We got one point out of this race, and this is a positive, but we expected more today. We were doing okay until the second stint: when we switched to the hard tyre, we just couldn't get them to work. I never got them up to temperature and it was a bit of a struggle until the end. We thought the hards would be a good race tyre, but it wasn't to be. It's a shame as in the first stint we were on the pace with the cars around us, but at least we have something to show for it today and we increased our advantage in the championship."
Zhou Guanyu: "The beginning of the race was quite fun, and the extended stint was looking good, but we ended up in traffic after the pit stop and that compromised my race a little bit. The second part of the race was trickier: making progress turned out to be quite difficult on this track, which of course is not easy, and it has definitely been one of the toughest one for me as a rookie to get used to. I was happy to see Valtteri get a point for the team and I hope some of my battles helped with this. In general, this weekend we have been consistent, and we did do a step up: we just need to keep working on our race performances to finish this season well."

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team scored four points from today's Mexico City Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon finishing eighth after a challenging afternoon at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Esteban Ocon: "It was a tough race for the team today. We were on for an important, double-points finish before Fernando's unfortunate retirement. On my side, we were struggling with cooling issues towards the latter half of the race and we had to manage that, which meant we couldn't match the pace of the McLarens at the end, narrowly missing out on catching Daniel's [Ricciardo] time penalty. We come away with some points, but we need to ensure these issues don't happen again if we are to stay fourth in the championship."

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 21 - 23 October

Formula 1® Racing - Texas

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN went close to the points in a chaotic United States Grand Prix, with a top-ten finish only slipping out of reach in the closing stages of the race. Zhou Guanyu, starting from P18 after a power unit penalty, made a good recovery with a brave race and an aggressive strategy; he climbed as high as tenth before a late surge by cars on fresher tyres saw him finish in 13th place. Team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, survived early contact with Sergio Perez and was running into the points when his race came to an end with a spin.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "It's been quite a difficult day for the team, and it feels like a big opportunity to score points missed. The race held a lot of promise, as we were starting in a good position with Valtteri and both drivers seemed really at ease with the car. We suffered early on, as the contact between Valtteri and Perez meant we dropped places and got caught into a battle we wouldn't have been in, and when Valtteri retired we knew we'd have a really big job ahead of us to bring home some points. Zhou did really well, starting from 18: he kept out of trouble on a day that caught out many, and the race plan helped him make up ground. In the end, however, that was not enough to bring home the points he would have deserved. It feels like an opportunity that got away from us, but the silver lining of the day is that we're still in sixth place in the championship. We know we'll need to fight tooth and nail in the final races to secure this position, but we can rely on our updated package to hopefully be able to score the points we need for this important objective."
Valtteri Bottas: "We were looking really strong for points, so it's disappointing to finish my race early. At the start, I was going into Turn Nine on the opening lap and saw Perez diving in at the very end: it was very close, and I had to go wide losing momentum and a couple of places, but luckily we just touched. I passed Albon, settled into a rhythm, but when I was trying to close the gap to Gasly to get into DRS range I made a mistake in Turn 19 and lost the rear end. I later found out that, at the same time, there was quite a big gust of wind, so a combination of that and pushing too hard put an end to my race. It was very unfortunate, as our pace was promising, and a points finish could've definitely been possible today. I'm looking forward to turning the tide next week in Mexico and bringing home some points."
Zhou Guanyu: "We knew today was always going to be difficult, starting from the back: we tried to make something happen, but, towards the end, holding off drivers who were mounting newer tyres compared to ours became almost impossible. We tried to stay out hoping for something to happen that would favour us, but eventually it didn't quite work out. Overall, it's been quite a tricky day for the team, but at least we go again next week in Mexico: as a positive, we showed good performances on track. For sure the upgrades we brought here helped a lot, we've been so much stronger especially in one-lap pace, and we saw both cars had the pace to get into Q3."

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team's Esteban Ocon was able to place from the Pit Lane to the eleventh place.

Esteban started from the Pit Lane after adding new Power Unit components under parc ferme conditions. On a two-stop, Hard-Hard-Medium strategy, Esteban came close to the points, with a charge on Mediums on his final stint bringing him just two seconds away from taking the final point.

The team remains fourth in the Constructors' Championship on 149 points.

Esteban Ocon: "We were very close to finishing in the points after starting from the Pit Lane. We can be pleased to recover from the back to eleventh place with the car showing good pace. I think more was possible - some points would have been fantastic - so we'll review what we could have done to achieve that next time. We'll debrief, learn, and move forward to come back stronger as a team. Mexico is next weekend, so that's a chance for us to go again and score points. The battle for fourth place is close, and every top ten finish will be valuable for us. Congratulations also to Red Bull Racing for their very much deserved Constructors' title."

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 07 - 09 October

Formula 1® Racing - Japan

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN saw the chequered flag in a chaotic Japanese Grand Prix, but there was no reward for Valtteri Bottas's and Zhou Guanyu's heroics under the pouring rain in Suzuka. Despite the team's relentless work in a red-flagged, much-delayed race, Valtteri and Zhou finished in 15th and 16th, respectively. Showing impressive pace after a pit stop for intermediates, Zhou set the fastest lap of the race - his first accolade in his Formula One career.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Today was a difficult day in which the team performed under very tough conditions. In the end, there was no top ten finish for us, despite a quick car: overtaking turned out to be very difficult, even with a pace advantage, and we couldn't make the progress we wanted after a challenging start. It's a shame to leave Japan with no points: we now have to regroup and make sure we hit the right note in Austin, in two weeks. We know our car and our team are capable of battling towards the front of the midfield, but we need to get our work done to be there. One last thought has to go to the incredible Japanese fans: their presence has made the atmosphere of this race unique, despite the weather. They have been superb from Thursday to tonight and we're looking forward to seeing them again next year."
Valtteri Bottas: "The conditions were very difficult today, in particular at the beginning of the race. The first couple of laps were quite risky, mostly because visibility wasn't great from my position, it was a bit sketchy. We seemed to have good pace, especially as the track dried out a bit, but unfortunately it was difficult to overtake today: I think most of the drivers struggled with that, which was a shame as I ended up stuck behind Magnussen for pretty much all of the race. We can still find some positives from this weekend: we were super close to getting into Q3 yesterday, so that's good. It's a small improvement, and we must aim for it for the final races of the season. Hopefully, we can build on that, and have a good qualifying in Austin in a few weeks, where we will also be bringing some additional upgrades on the car."
Zhou Guanyu: "I have positives to take from the weekend, even though we didn't score. It was nice to see that we can still be so close and have good pace; furthermore, it being my first time in Suzuka, I learned a lot over the weekend. Overall, it was a typical Sunday with weather changes and very low visibility. At the start, I suffered a spin at the hairpin, meaning I had to come back from the bottom. At the restart, there were only two ways to go: you either pitted on lap one to go on inters, or you tried to stay out hoping for more rain. I was quite far behind and there was a lot of spray coming my way from the cars in front, so I felt like the best option was to stay out on the wets. We did that, and when we saw the inters were clearly faster, I knew the gamble was lost: still, we gave it a try, and I got to gain my first-ever fastest lap for that. We can be quietly confident for the future: the upgrades we introduced this weekend are looking positive, but we still need some more time to properly understand them."

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team scored 18 points from today's Japanese Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon fourth after a shortened race at a rain-soaked Suzuka.

The team moves back into fourth place in the Constructors' Championship with 143 points.

Heavy rain hit Suzuka in the hour leading up to the race start with Esteban Ocon starting on Intermediate tyres. Esteban progressed to fourth after Carlos Sainz's lap one retirement. The race was then red-flagged due to the deteriorating conditions, which brought a lengthy delay.

The race resumed with Esteban Ocon on full Wets under the Safety Car before the rolling restart with 45 minutes - 28 laps - remaining to the chequered flag. Esteban was locked in a race-long battle with Lewis Hamilton where his adroit defensive skills proved enough to hold off the seven-time world champion.

Esteban Ocon: "To finish fourth is a fantastic result for us, especially in these conditions. It was a difficult start with the rain and poor visibility, so we had to be fully focused to get through the early stages. I'm glad we managed to race and reward the fans who have been so good in their support all weekend. Racing Lewis [Hamilton] is always a pleasure and I was having to drive while looking in my mirrors the whole time. Congratulations to Max for winning the world championship. He deserves it after dominating and driving brilliantly at every race. We leave Japan with a great haul of points, claiming back fourth in the Constructors' Championship."

Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 30 September - 02 October

Formula 1® Racing - Singapore

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN endured a tough weekend in Singapore, as Valtteri Bottas brought his C42 home in 11th place after a damp-to-dry race on the Marina Bay circuit. Team-mate, Zhou Guanyu, saw his evening end early as he was the victim of a collision with Nicholas Latifi, the resulting damage putting the Chinese driver out of the running.

Despite the difficult race, the team maintains its sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship with 52 points.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “It has been a difficult weekend, despite the good pace we showed on Friday. Yesterday’s wet qualifying ended up compromising our day, as it was always going to be challenging to come back from 14th and 15th on the grid. The race itself was not easy, especially on a damp track: Zhou couldn’t do anything to avoid being taken out when he was showing good pace; Valtteri probably got as much out of the race as possible, and it was only a fast-charging Verstappen who kept him out of the points in the end. We tried giving him a fighting chance with the soft tyres, but in the end that was not enough to finish in the top ten. We move on to Suzuka now, knowing our pace in the dry was ok and that we will be introducing some updates that should give us a boost in performance. We keep fighting to preserve P6 in the championship.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: 11th
Fastest lap: 1:51.864 (Lap 52)
Tyres: New Inter (33 laps) - New Soft (26 laps)

Valtteri Bottas: “Considering where we started today, we probably got as much as we could. Of course, it’s always frustrating when you finish just one position away from the points, but at least we avoided any mistakes and kept it on track. Towards the end, the soft tyres were starting to drop and I couldn’t close in on Gasly, but I think it was a good call to try going with them in the second stint today: I don’t think any other compound would have given us a better result. We can still take a few positives from the weekend: we showed good pace on Friday, and we have some upgrades coming to Japan; our car has proved to be working a bit better in dry conditions, so let’s hope for favourable weather in Suzuka to kick back right away.”

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Race result: DNF
Fastest lap: 2:05.556 (Lap 5)
Tyres: New Inter (6 laps)

Zhou Guanyu: “It’s disappointing to finish a race with such a crash, there was not much I could do. I was side-by-side with Latifi in turn four, and he decided to fully close the space and put me into the wall. The damage to the suspension was terminal, he got a penalty for this incident but it’s not going to change much for me. It was not what we wanted, and it’s especially annoying as I think we had a decent pace. We just move on from today and shift our focus to Suzuka: it’s a new chance for us to do well and I am looking forward to racing on that track.”​​​​​​​

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team faced its first double retirement of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 season today as Esteban Ocon failed to finish the Singapore Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon retired quickly to his teammate as the team looked to identify suspected power unit issues on both cars.

Heavy rain before the race brought a one-hour and five-minute delay to the start. Esteban started from seventeenth on Intermediates and looked to close towards the top ten. He retired from the race while running in thirteenth on lap 27.

The team will investigate the issues which brought its double retirement while heading to Suzuka for next weekend's return of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon: "It's been a frustrating day for the team. On my side, a power unit issue ended our race early, and I know the team is currently investigating the exact cause of the failure. It is very disappointing to leave Singapore with a double retirement, but the positive we can take away is that our car has been performing well all weekend, and we know we have a good pace. We race again next week in Suzuka, my favourite track on the calendar, so we will dust ourselves down and come back stronger in Japan."

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup and Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 09 - 11 September

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup Round 7 - Monza

What a great day for BWT Lechner Racing at the Royal Park in Monza: Under a blue sky and a warm late summer sun, Dylan Pereira secured the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup drivers championship 2022, while his teammates Bastian Buus and Harry King with a win and a third place let the Austrian squad finish the season on an absolute high.

On the track, it had even been a 1-2-victory, but King later received a questionable 5-second penalty for what had seemed to be a normal race incident with ten Voorde and Heinrich.

Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: “Congratulations to Dylan, who showed an impressive performance over the whole year and really deserves the title with his three victories.But I don´t want to forget our two other drivers, Bastian and Harry showed today how fast and mature at the same time they already are at their young age. I can´t wait to see so much more from them in the future. In such a happy day I would like to take the opportunity to thank everybody, the whole team, the drivers, all our partners and especially BWT, who made this success a reality. We are already looking to 2023 when we will be back in full strength.”

Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg had finished third on track behind his two BWT Lechner Racing teammates, but a late 3-second time penalty due to having gained an advantage by leaving the track dropped him back to P5 in the final classification.

Dylan Pereira: “I was waiting to win a big championship for quite some time, so now it is really a dream come true. During the cool down lap I got rather emotional in the car, it´s such a great feeling when you have done it, such a relief. The pressure is always there before – even when it might look rather settled from the outside. At the first moment of the penalty, I was a bit upset – but today is such a great day, so forget about it, I just want to enjoy the title now. Thank you to everybody who has supported me on my long way so far, especially to BWT Lechner Racing, Robert and Walter and everybody else in the team, to my family, my partners and friends. You all have contributed to make all this possible.”

Race winner Bastian Buus had started from P2 on the grid, but already managed to take the lead from pole setter Marvin Klein during the first lap, before the Safety Car had to come out for three laps due to a midfield crash.

Bastian Buus: “That was of course very important, and after the re-start I could get away a little bit while the guys behind me were fighting each other. But during the last laps, Harry came very close, I had to stay really focused not to make the slightest mistake. It is great to finish the season in such a way – thanks again to everybody at BWT Lechner Racing for the fantastic support over the whole season.”

Harry King, who had set the fastest time in qualifying, but had to start from P4 due to a grid penalty from Zandvoort for the collision with Jaap van Lagen, showed his impressive speed by making it up to P2, finishing just four tenth of a second behind Buus – until the strange penalty dropped him back to P3.

Harry King: “I think it was quite a good performance, of course, it would have been nice to get my first Supercup win. It was very close, but between teammates, you just have to be a little bit more careful to start an attack – and Bastian made no mistake that would have given me a chance. But it was a superb first year with BWT Lechner Racing – and for sure there is more to come in the future.”

Somebody else in the team had reason to celebrate:

Michael Schöch, BWT Lechner Racing Team Manager: “Apart from winning the team, driver and rookie championship, we also claimed the title of “Mechanic of the Year” for us. Congratulations to Andoni Lurumbe, whom I also see as a representative of the team´s excellent performance. I am really proud of him. Every team nominates one mechanic for this, and then the nominees vote amongst them to define the winner.”

Formula 1® Racing - Monza

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN brought home a well-deserved point from the Italian Grand Prix as Zhou Guanyu finished 10th on a busy afternoon of racing. Team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, saw his race compromised after suffering damage at the first corner and dropping to last but recovered to finish 13th at the chequered flag.

The point gained today ends the team’s scoring drought and lifts the team’s tally for the season to 52.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “We had a positive weekend as a team, and the point we brought home with Zhou is a good reward. We had pace from Friday onwards, including in Q1 where Zhou was in P6, but we still had to get the job done today. We fought well in the midfield, even though overtaking was hard, and didn’t really do mistakes with Zhou so we could maximise our returns from the race. Unfortunately, Valtteri’s day was compromised by the damage he suffered at the start, but the key takeaway here is our performance: if we carry it over to the next rounds, we can aim to bring home more points to our name.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: 13th
Fastest lap: 1:25.706 (Lap 45)
Tyres: New Medium (35 laps) - New Soft (17 laps)

Valtteri Botta: “We had good pace today, so it’s disappointing not to be in the points: in the end, my race was compromised at turn one when I was hit from behind and I hit the car ahead. I had damage to the front wing, having lost the endplate, and then the car went into antistall: before I could get back going, I had lost a lot of ground and I was last. The car was clearly good, as I was able to make a decent recovery, but the damage still made it quite tricky: at least, the team got a point with Zhou so we have something to show for today. I’m looking forward to the mini-break ahead of us now, before we go full push for the end of the season. We know we can score points and I really want to finish the year in a stronger place than we are now.”

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Race result: 10th
Fastest lap: 1:26.361 (Lap 41)
Tyres: New Medium (18 laps) - New Hard (35 laps)

Zhou Guanyu: “I am really happy with today’s result and with the work that has been done in the past few weeks; it’s been a tough journey since Montreal, because we were very strong at the beginning of the season and then our performances had a dip; but being back in the points today is an amazing feeling, a great result both for the team and for Alfa Romeo. We knew we had a chance today, our pace was good and it allowed us to be in the fight with the other teams. We have a couple of weeks off now, which will give us time to rest after the triple-header and, above all, to analyze what worked this weekend and what went wrong in the previous races, to come prepared and motivated ahead of the next ones. I am looking forward to the Asian double-header, as the races will be closer to home and there will be several fans coming to support me.”

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team left without reward from today's Italian Grand Prix as Esteban Ocon finished eleventh in today's race in Monza. The team remains in fourth position in the Constructors' Championship heading into the flyaway part of the season, which begins in Singapore in three weeks' time.

Esteban Ocon: "It was a tricky race today and obviously it's disappointing to finish just one position away from the points in the end. The car was performing well, and we had good race pace, which we weren't able to show with traffic ahead. We'll refocus and maximise everything for the remaining races from Singapore and onwards. I'm looking forward to a little break to recover from the triple header and fully prepare for the flyaway races where we'll look to get both cars back into the points in our fight for fourth in the Constructors' Championship."

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup and Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 02 - 04 September

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup Round 6 - Zandvoort

What a great weekend for BWT Lechner Racing at Zandvoort: On a nice summer Sunday at the 4.259 km long track in the dunes of the North Sea, in front of more than 100 000 Dutch fans who would later enthusiastically cheer for their hero Max Verstappen winning his home GP, there was a lot of reason to celebrate for the whole team.

In a rather chaotic race that ended with a Red Flag, the Austrian squad secured its 12th team championship title in the history of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, an outstanding record, while Danish Youngster Bastian Buus claimed the rookie title.

Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: “It´s great to have these two championships already in the bag, before the season final in Monza in one week´s time. I am very proud of the whole team. Everybody worked so hard and extremely professional over the whole year – this is the very well deserved reward. Bastian drove a great first season in his first year with us, fulfilling the high hopes we had in him from the very beginning. Now we can focus on also securing the overall drivers´championship for Dylan Pereira next weekend in Italy.”

Championship leader Pereira, who had already actually set the fastest time on track in qualifying, but received a three-place grid penalty for an incident with Simone Iaquinta, dropping him back from Pole Position to P4, scored another podium finish with P3 on track behind Marvin Klein from France and young Dutchman Morris Schuring. That became P2 when Schuring got a five-second penalty for a false start.

He now has a lead of 18 points over defending champion Larry ten Voorde (P3 at Zandvoort) and 20 over Laurin Heinrich (P5), which means that P9 in Italy would be enough for him to secure the title.

Dylan Pereira: “I was a bit careful at the beginning when there was a huge chaos, lost a few places, but thankfully I was able to make up some ground again, stay ahead of my main championship rivals and extend my lead before the final in Monza. It doesn´t look too bad right now for winning my first championship, but for sure I don´t take anything for granted”

Formula 1® Racing - Zaandvoort

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN had a tough day in Zandvoort as Zhou Guanyu finished 16th and Valtteri Bottas retired from the Dutch Grand Prix. A difficult weekend ended in disappointment in what was, for the neutral viewer, an incredibly thrilling afternoon of racing. The team will now return to action in next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, the team’s home race.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “It’s been a tough day at the end of a difficult weekend. We had been struggling to find pace but made some good improvements as we approached the race: unfortunately, we lost Valtteri for a suspected power unit issue, and Zhou’s race was compromised by a penalty for speeding in the pit-lane. With the midfield as close as it is, anything but a perfect race means you’re missing out on the points and this is exactly what happened. It’s been disappointing, but we have Monza next week and hopefully we will be able to put this one behind us and do well in front of that crowd. It’s a home race for us and our title partners and we want to have a good one to get back on track.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: DNF
Fastest lap: 1:16.844 (Lap 51)
Tyres: New Soft (16 laps) - New Soft (18 laps) - New Medium (19 laps - DNF)

Valtteri Bottas: “It’s always disappointing to end a race ahead of time. I felt the car’s pace was better than yesterday’s, we had kept progressing, even though it would have still been challenging to score points. The battle in the midfield was quite good and there was plenty of action, but then we had a technical issue and our race was over. I am waiting for confirmation, but I think it was a power unit issue: there was no sign prior to that, everything was feeling ok and I suddenly lost power. I could see some flames in the back, so now we’ll have to see what we find there.”

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Race result: 16th
Fastest lap: 1:15.940 (Lap 63)
Tyres: New Soft (12 laps) - Used Soft (25 laps) - New Medium (18 laps) - Used Soft (17 laps)

Zhou Guany: “It’s been quite a tough race today, particularly towards the end as we got slowed down a lot by all the blue flags. The late safety car also did not play in our favour, as there wasn’t much time left and we put on used softs which didn’t make it easy to charge up. It’s been a challenging weekend overall for the team, we’ve been clearly lacking something compared to the rest of the midfield, so we will have to work hard in these few days: we need to make sure to improve ahead of Monza next week and for the rest of the season, to try and get back to where we were, performance-wise, during the first races of the year.”

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team made it five double points finishes in a row with solid points from the weekend Dutch Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon ninth at a packed-out Zandvoort.

By scoring ten points from today's race, the team moves further ahead in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship on 125 points. Esteban made a brilliant start to the race as he moved up three positions on lap one.

Esteban pitted for Hards on lap 19 and pitted under the full Safety Car nine laps later for Softs, which allowed him to gain control in his fight with Lance Stroll and with Esteban just missing out on the Ferrari's punishment by 0.2secs to finish in ninth place.

Esteban Ocon: "I'm pleased to score points today and it was a nice recovery after disappointment in Qualifying on Saturday. We have also outscored McLaren again, which is positive in our fight in the Constructors' Championship. On my side, I had a mega start, made up a few places in the early part of the race, which put us in position to score points. There's always more you can do, so we'll assess the things we can improve for next time to come away with even more. Another race is just around the corner and I'm already looking forward to Monza, a track that I love, and one that will likely suit our car better. We will push on!"

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup and Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 26 - 28 August

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup Round 6 - SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Fantastic day for Dylan Pereira and BWT Lechner Racing: At the classical and challenging track of Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Ardennes, the 25-year-old from Luxembourg celebrated his third victory in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2022 and extended his championship lead to 12 points ahead of Laurin Heinrich.

For Pereira, it was already the third Supercup win at his “home track” after 2019 and the historic triumph in the 300th race of the series in 2021 in the pouring rain. This time he confirmed his outstanding master class at this circuit under entirely different conditions with sunshine and comfortable 20 degrees by finishing the race nearly 7 seconds ahead of defending champion Larry ten Voorde.

Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: “Really outstanding performance of Dylan here at Spa. Already yesterday in qualifying and now in the race he dominated everything, proved again his current impressive form and made it clear that with now three wins he is the well-deserved championship leader. Speaking of championships, we have a very good chance to already win not only the rookie, but also the team title next weekend in Zandvoort – so I am really looking forward to this race.”

Pereira was ever so happy about his victory, that was celebrated by a lot of family and friends from nearby Luxembourg at the track. He had already dominated qualifying on Saturday, claiming pole position for BWT Lechner Racing, nearly four tenth ahead of Heinrich, and was very pleased with his performance.

Dylan Pereira: “I managed to win the start from pole position, which was very important. From then on I was able to pull away step by step and control the race. In the end, I even had time to watch on the video wall that ten Voorde got past Heinrich – which championship-wise was good for me. It was not easy, as due to the rain on Friday we did not have much data from free practice. And during our test here, track conditions were completely different with 50 degrees asphalt temperature. But I got everything together very well, the first lap was already quite good, so for the second run it was mainly fine-tuning – and it worked.”

British Porsche Carrera Cup champion Harry King made it from P8 on the grid after a very unfortunate collision in qualifying to P5 but he was able to make up ground in the race, finishing just a bit more than a second behind Heinrich in P3.

His Danish BWT Lechner teammate Bastian Buus started and finished in P6, the youngster winning the rookie classification for the sixth time in six races, a new record.

Formula 1® Racing - SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN went close to scoring points as Zhou Guanyu finished 14th, within seconds of P10, at the Belgian Grand Prix. Birthday Boy, Valtteri Bottas, saw his race come to an early end as he was collected by a spinning Latifi and spun into the gravel in the opening laps.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “The team did a good job, given the circumstances: unfortunately, that was not enough for a point today. We knew that we'd have a complicated weekend taking power unit and gearbox penalties with both cars, but we can take heart from the pace we showed. Both drivers had a good shot at the points: unfortunately, Valtteri’s race was over immediately, and Zhou got stuck in Albon’s DRS train when in sight of the points. These things happen, we’ll build on the pace and work hard to ensure we can maximise our results already in Zandvoort.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: DNF
Fastest lap: n/a
Tyres: New Soft (2 laps)

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Race result: 14th
Fastest lap: 1:52.317 (Lap 30)
Tyres: New Medium (14 laps) – New Medium (14 laps) – New Soft (16 laps)

Valtteri Bottas: “We had pace today and, with such a mixed-up grid, there could have been opportunities to get a good result, so it’s disappointing to finish my race so early. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: I saw Latifi spin towards the left, and all I could do was take evasive action to avoid a collision. Unfortunately, I spun on the grass and ended up stuck in the gravel: I tried to go forward and back, but couldn’t move. It’s not the birthday present I wanted, but hopefully I can still have some fun tonight, before we turn our focus on next week.”

Esteban Ocon

BWT Alpine F1 Team secured its fourth double top ten finish in a row with Esteban Ocon seventh in a thrilling, incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Esteban enjoyed a superb, overtaking-dominated display as he progressed from sixteenth to seventh for his six points. Esteban made a sensible start and did well to stay out of trouble as he moved towards the points-scoring positions.

Esteban made two double overtakes - one into the final chicane - the other in the closing stages of the race on Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly into Les Combes to jump from ninth to seventh.

Esteban Ocon: "What a way to wrap up a fantastic weekend for the team. The car was fast, and I had a lot of fun racing today, especially with those double overtakes. Well done to the team for their work this weekend; we can all be proud of ourselves. I felt confident all race, and the car felt great. Who knows what could've happened if we had started further up the road! We leave Spa satisfied, knowing it was a job well done, as well as a good haul of points for the team to extend our fourth position in the Constructors' Championship. Bring on Zandvoort."

Formula E | FIA Formula E

Motorsport recap 13- 14 August

In its eight-year history, the 100th Formula E race took place in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, 13 August. The season's final race saw the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team contest their last E-Prix before bowing out from the racing series after three successful seasons. Stoffel Vandoorne finished P5 at the finish line in P5 and scored crucial points in the final race on Sunday. Nyck de Vries needed to retire his damaged car in the pits after contact with another car. The result meant that both World Championships would be decided in the penultimate race.

Mercedes-EQ driver Stoffel Van Doorne wins the Drivers' World Championship title in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for the first time in his career. He finishes in the points in 15 of this season's 16 races, finishing in P1 in Monaco and P11 in Mexico and a total of 8 podiums. Mercedes-Q Team took seven wins and 23 podium finishes from 42 races. In the all-electric racing series, the team took home two double World Championship titles after three seasons. Mercedes QPR's Nyck Nyck ended the season as runner-up with a 33-point deficit with Mitch Evans.

Stoffel Vandoorne, Team Driver and Championship Winner: “Wow, I’m speechless. It’s fantastic – the whole season has just been great. It’s an incredible feeling when you think about what we’ve achieved together this year. Thank you to the whole team for making this possible. The car was superb again today, and everyone in the team deserves this success. We have accomplished something very special together.”

Formula 1® Racing and Formula E | FIA Formula E

Motorsport recap 29 - 31 July

Formula 1® Racing - Hungarian GP

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN saw a race spent nearly entirely within the top ten come to nothing as Zhou Guanyu finished 13th and Valtteri Bottas retired from the Hungarian Grand Prix. The race marks the end of the first part of the season, with the summer break now allowing the team to regroup and return to the performance levels shown throughout the spring.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “A day that promised much at its beginning left us disappointed in the end. The start put us on the back foot, losing five places with both cars and setting up a tough afternoon to recover some points. Valtteri was able to break into the top ten and was there until the closing stages, but in the end a fuel system issue meant he had to retire with a couple of laps to go. Zhou’s afternoon was also compromised at the start, he was able to recover to 13th in the end but, as a team, we hoped for a lot more. It is a shame after the good performance we delivered in qualifying yesterday, but we now have a summer break to understand what went wrong and come back into the points for the final three European races of the season at the end of summer.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: 20th
Fastest lap: 1:24.002 (Lap 60)
Tyres: New Medium (26 laps) - New Hard (39 laps)

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Race result: 13th
Fastest lap: 1:22.029 (Lap 58)
Tyres: New Medium (27 laps) - New Hard (24 laps) - New Soft (19 laps)

Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon came in ninth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix to help the BWT Alpine F1 Team finish the Formula 1 summer break in fourth place in the 2022 F1 Constructors’ Championship, scoring six points.

Esteban Ocon competed in a hard-fought 70-lap race in Budapest, executing a one-stop Medium to Hard strategy. On the final lap, Esteban struggled to keep behind Sebastian Vettel, which he achieved by 0.1 seconds at the finish line.

Esteban Ocon: “We can be happy to score points with both cars today and that’s always a positive especially as we go into the season break. I don’t think we quite maximised our potential during the race and we’ll discuss as a team what we can do to improve. The one-stop was challenging today but we made it work to score points and I had to defend hard from Seb [Vettel] on the last lap. Overall, we’re still heading into the break in fourth in the Constructors’ Championship and we’ll be hungry to extend our lead in a few weeks’ time. I’m proud of the team for the improvements in performance over the last couple of months and we’ll aim to continue this upwards trajectory when the season returns after the well-deserved rest.”

ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Standings leader and GlobeAir Ambassador Stoffel Vandoorne got some excellent results in Formula E, finishing P2 in the qualifying rounds on Saturday and P4 on Sunday.

Stoffel is currently holding the top position in the championship with a 36-point advantage over Mitch Evans from Jaguar TCS Racing in second. The fight for the title will come down to the wire on the final race weekend in Seoul.

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup and Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 22 - 24 July

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup Round 5 -Le Castellet

Bastian Buus crowned a fantastic weekend for himself and BWT Lechner Racing with his first win in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. The 19-year-old youngster from Denmark controlled the race at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France under blue skies and in the 32-degree heat from Pole Position and crossed the finish line 0.5 seconds ahead of his BWT Lechner teammate Harry King.

Championship leader and double winner in 2022, Dylan Pereira, starting from P3 on the grid, unfortunately, during the hectic action at the start, suffered suspension damage to his car due to contact, and after receiving another hit without his own fault , later on, had to play it safe and focus on defending his position and scoring valuable points – which he did in a great way regarding the state of his car. P5 on track became P4 later when Laurin Heirich received a 3-second-penalty for overtaking outside of the track limits.

That means that the 25-year-old from Luxembourg extended his lead in the overall classification to 4 points ahead of Heinrich, title defender Larry ten Voorde is third, 10 points behind.

Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: "Our two youngsters rocked the show today; they were in a league of their own here. I am so proud of them and especially glad that Bastian, who, as a rookie, already showed an impressive performance from the beginning of the season, got his first victory superbly. Harry drove a fantastic race as well, also setting the fastest lap. We have three drivers in the team who can fight for wins. That was the aim from the start of 2022; we always believed in this – and that´s what we have now. I am very proud of the whole team, engineers, mechanics, truck drivers, and everybody contributing from home, administration, and back office – they all do a great job. It was our first double win of the season, but hopefully not the last one. If it´s up to me, it can continue like this for the rest of the year...”
Bastian Buus: "It is fantastic to be on the top of the podium in the overall classification for the first time. I want to thank my team, BWT Lechner Racing, who gave me this chance and made it all possible for me, to everybody who believed in me, and to my family, who always supported me and is here now to celebrate with me. It´s one of the best days of my life – and it is great to share it with all the people who made it happen. Now I have to continue to work hard to stay where I currently am."

Formula 1® Racing - Le Castellet, French GP

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN left the Circuit Paul Ricard empty-handed on a difficult Sunday on which Valtteri Bottas finished 14th. Zhou Guanyu’s race was cut short by a technical issue. The team will aim to return immediately at next week’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the summer break.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “We were confident, before the race, we could convert some decent grid positions into points, but sadly it wasn’t the case this afternoon. Valtteri struggled off the line and had to take evasive action as there were a few tangles ahead of him. We found ourselves with two cars at the bottom of the field by the end of the first lap, and it was always going to be hard to recover into the top ten from there. We had a decent pace – Zhou showed it when running in clean air after his stop – but that was not enough to make up ground today. In the end, we brought one car home outside the points and had to retire the other with a power unit issue: not the result we hoped for, but at least we’ll have an opportunity to bounce back immediately in Hungary. We’ll analyse today and understand what happened, especially because we expect the weather conditions to be similar next weekend.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: 14th

Fastest lap: 1:37.963 (Lap 52)
Tyres: New Hard (18 laps) - New Hard (18 laps) - New Medium (17 laps)

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
Race result: 16th

Fastest lap: 1:39.368 (Lap 25)
Tyres: New Medium (9 laps) - New Hard (13 laps) - New Hard (25 laps - DN

Esteban Ocon

The BWT Alpine F1 Team climbed to fourth in the Constructors' Championship after scoring double points at the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard, with Esteban Ocon finishing eighth.

Esteban was given a five-second penalty after colliding with Yuki Tsunoda on lap one. Still, he recovered the deficit and finished the race with points after making a well-executed outside pass on McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo around the outside of turn 10.

Esteban Ocon: "The goal today was to score points with both cars, and we've done just that! I'm happy with my race today, and it was brilliant to drive in front of the home fans, who have been incredible all weekend, so thanks to them for all their support. It was tough in the heat, and I enjoyed the on-track racing with some tight battles. We're now fourth in the Constructors' Championship, so we leave here feeling very positive and motivated to keep that position. I hope we race in France next year as there is nothing quite like a home Grand Prix. Merci to all the fans and allez Alpine!"

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup and Formula 1® Racing

Motorsport recap 08 - 10 July

Porsche Mobil 1™ Supercup Round 4 -Spielberg

BWT Lechner Racing experienced a fantastic weekend at their Austrian home race at the Red Bull Ring near Spielberg: In front of a huge crowd of more than 100 000 spectators at the 4.326 km scenic circuit in the Styrian Alpes, Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg won the fourth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2022 ahead of Laurin Heinrich and his BWT Lechner Racing teammate Bastian Buus, who claimed his first Supercup Podium ever after a very strong race.

Harry King in P4 completed the very impressive team result for the Austrian squad, which at the half time of the season now leads in all three championships: Pereira, the first driver to win two races in this season, took over the lead in the overall classification from Larry ten Voorde, who had to retire after a collision shortly before the end of the race, while Buus and BWT Lechner Racing extended their advantage in the rookie and team championship.

Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: “It is a fantastic day for us; I am very proud of the whole team and our drivers. Dylan impressively dominated the weekend, Bastian showed his huge potential, and Harry brought in a good result for the team even if he was a bit unlucky today. Nothing better than being able to celebrate at home!”
Walter Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal: “When I scored the first Supercup podium for Lechner Racing here in Spielberg – and now we have so much more reason for celebrations again. Fantastic!”

Formula 1® Racing - Spielberg, Austria

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN nearly completed a pit-lane-to-points comeback at the Austrian Grand Prix, as Valtteri Bottas finished 11th and Zhou Guanyu 14th in a hectic race at the Red Bull Ring.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “It’s been a difficult weekend for us, and to nearly come away with a point despite all that happened shows the attitude of this team. With Valtteri starting from the Pit Lane and Zhou in P13, we knew we had a tough job ahead of us if we wanted to come away with a good result, and we very nearly did. It was a hectic race, with lots of battling and action – a great advertisement for our sport: for the team, we had nearly delivered a great comeback, but the tyre advantage Alonso had on the final lap was too much for Valtteri to overcome, and Zhou’s penalty really put an end to his hopes of points. It’s disappointing to leave without a point, but we will regroup and aim to start scoring again in France.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 01/Ferrari)
Race result: 11th
Fastest lap: 1:09.266 (Lap 61)
Tyres: New Medium (6 laps) - New Hard (33 laps) - New Hard (31 laps)

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
Race result: 14th
Fastest lap: 1:09.380 (Lap 50)
Tyres: New Hard (24 laps) - New Hard (22 laps) - New Medium (24 laps)

Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon finished in fifth place at the Austrian Grand Prix, his highest finish of the season. Ocon believes that he and his team had "the perfect weekend" after drawing level on points with McLaren in the constructor championship.

He started the race in sixth place and made a strong start, reaching as high as third on the first lap. After coming in for a pit stop on lap 15, the Alpine driver had to battle his way through the field and knocked off impressive overtakes on Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda.

After overtaking Lewis Hamilton on lap 30, George Russell overtook him on lap 60. After Carlos Sainz's retirement, Ocon finished fifth in what he described as an "awesome" weekend.

Make sure to come back on Monday, 15 August, where we will provide you with an insider's look and recap of the Final championship race in Seoul for the Formula E | FIA Formula E.

The current season of Formula 1 and Porsche SuperCup is on a break for the summer holidays, and we look forward to bringing you more insider information at the end of August.

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