Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has unveiled a special helmet design for the upcoming Australian Grand Prix, describing the event as “almost a home race” due to his Australian partner and his success at the circuit in previous years. Bottas has scored points in all but one of his Australian GP starts, including a podium finish in 2017 and a victory in 2019 with Mercedes.
The Finn, who recently participated in the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, said he had already gotten into the racing mood after driving classic touring cars. Bottas, who finished in 18th place at the last race in Jeddah, expressed his eagerness to score a good result for his team and forget about the previous race.
“I strongly believe our car has the potential to do well, and leave the tough weekend we had in Saudi behind,” he said. “We have seen how close everyone is this season, but if we put out a strong performance from the very start of the weekend, we’ll be able to get back in the points.”
Bottas’ teammate, Zhou Guanyu, who is yet to score a point this season, also expressed his excitement for the upcoming race in Melbourne. He hopes to have a strong showing in front of the large Chinese community in attendance.
“The Chinese community here is quite big, and it was great to feel their support from the grandstands from day one: I am sure there will be just as many fans cheering for us this season,” Zhou said. “We know what we need to do to bring home the points: we also have some updates to test, and we’re confident we can have a successful weekend.”