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Sauber finished a coveted sixth in the standings, despite leveling with Aston Martin thanks to Valtteri Bottas’ countdown to fifth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel or Lance Stroll.
Struggling for pace against Aston Martin in the Abu Dhabi final and holding a four-point lead in the round, Alfa chose to sacrifice its time to thwart the British team in order to retain sixth place – Added bonuses worth approximately $10-12 million.
Although Stroll stopped first of the four drivers, Alfa therefore used Zhou Guanyu Undercut long-running Vettel while Valtri Bottas He went further on the hard tires to take the lead over Stroll before the Canadian pitted a second time.
Bottas explained after the race that his long “defensive” sessions on the most durable rubber were used to “play with the green cars” and interrupt their desire to go forward.
“I think today we didn’t have that speed at the end of the day, but my strategy was to be very defensive, so at the end of my first term I always tried to do well and when the green cars came through we wanted to play with them,” he said. Bottas said.
“The score was too close at the end but I’m glad we got it.
“[The hard strategy was] Wait for the Astons to stop before we make their life difficult. “
Zhou explained that the team’s dwell time is also designed to provide McLaren and high mountain There is a clearer pit stop window to stop to ensure they can stay ahead of Aston Martin.
Once Vettel stopped and started to return from the crowd, the Chinese rookie defended hard to prevent Vettel from making progress in his final F1 race.
This ultimately helped ensure that Vettel, despite his best efforts, passed Daniel Ricardo At the end of the race in ninth, it was not possible to finish higher than tenth.
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C42
Photography: Glenn Dunbar/ motorsport pictures
“I mean, it’s been clear throughout the race – if we can’t beat them on track, then we sacrifice positions and let McLaren and Alpine clear that window,” he said when asked by Autosport about the team’s Strategy, Zhou revealed.
“So that was the case today. I stopped early, the tires were fresh, but we could get weakened by Sebastian and Lance, and then we tried to brace them as much as possible to create a clearer situation for the others. window.
“I think it’s very important that we were able to achieve that. We really gave our all today and were really happy for the team.
“Given where we were in qualifying, Valtteri had to really try something very risky, a gamble tactic, and on my side, I just wanted to stay there and see if we could make a difference. as.
“After the first lap we always stayed in a very similar position and that was the best we could do.
“So in the end, it’s pretty close, the points are equal but yeah, I know every little difference makes a difference. It’s going to be very important for the team next year.”
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