5 races within 15 days: Alfa-Sauber: revival or back to business as usual?

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

After the desert miracle in Qatar with six World Cup points, the battle for seventh place against Williams-Mercedes has flared up again – only 16 to 23 points behind. It is clear that the optimistic sounds from Hinwil are getting louder again.

Hinwil’s dream: score five times

Team representative Alessandro Bravi (48), who predicted World Cup points in all the last races of September, repeats this prediction after Qatar (and a few flops beforehand): “From Austin we can always score points until the final in Abu Dhabi! If we do our job well.”

This probably does not include Bravi’s fifth sprint of the season on Saturday. Never before has an Alfa-Sauber 2023 come close to the points for the first eight drivers over the short distance. There were three victories for the omnivorous Verstappen.

Bottas: Departure to the gravel pit

The results from a year ago on the 5.513 km long course hardly make the fans euphoric: Bottas benefited from penalties and was able to start seventh, but was eliminated after 16 laps when he crashed into the gravel.

Only Poolman Sainz (Ferrari) was caught after a few seconds in front of the Finn. The Spaniard lost the starting duel to eventual winner Verstappen – after which Sainz was turned around by Russell in the Mercedes. Ten days ago Sainz couldn’t start at all in Qatar – great fuel tank.

Norris chases Ferrari duo

The battle for places two to five in the last five World Cup races becomes even more dramatic: Mercedes (326), Ferrari (298), Aston-Martin-Mercedes (230), McLaren-Mercedes (219).

The Papaya duo Norris and Piastri in particular could shake up the rankings. Also in the drivers’ championship, where the Ferrari duo Sainz (153) and Leclerc (145) can still be overtaken in fifth and sixth place by the Briton Norris (136) in the McLaren. Easy if you look at the past results of the Italians.

Source : Blick