Valtteri Bottas has set out what he hopes Alfa Romeo can achieve in 2022. The Finn will embark on his first season with the Swiss outfit after signing a multi-year deal, and believes that a successful year for the team would see them consistently running in the points. However, given the wave of new regulations being introduced into the sport, Bottas admits that it is difficult to know what will happen. "You need to be realistic, and it's so hard to predict," Bottas told the Beyond The Grid podcast. "But I feel [that] all the ingredients are there, and the potential is there, with the people and with the facilities and with the regulation changes, and [with teams having] not that dissimilar budgets. "I think next year realistically, we should be able to consistently be in the points. Sometimes hopefully close to a podium. I think that would be already a success."
Bottas "not setting any limits" on what Alfa Romeo can do
Bottas has previously witnessed how quickly things can change in Formula 1. During his rookie season with Williams in 2013, the Grove-based squad finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship with only five points. One year later, though, the team had improved dramatically, and ended the season with 320 points, putting them in third place. With this in mind, Bottas is reluctant to rule anything out when it comes to what Alfa Romeo can achieve in 2022. "I'm not setting any limits," he explained. "There's no point setting any limits [on] what we can't do, because anything is possible in this sport. "I've seen that with Williams, from 2013 to '14, that big swings can happen if you do things right. That's why it's interesting, because you just don't know - what can we achieve together? And I believe we can achieve big things." Alfa Romeo finished the 2021 season with 13 points, putting them ninth in the Constructors' standings. This year the team will field a completely new line-up. Bottas arrives from his five-year stint with Mercedes, whilst rookie Guanyu Zhou will make the step up from Formula 2.
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