Valtteri Bottas has set himself the target of qualifying within the top 10 at the United States Grand Prix after a positive day on Friday. After handing his car over to rookie Theo Pourchaire during Free Practice 1, the Finn returned for FP2 in a session allocated to Pirelli tyre testing. Bottas ended the extended 90-minute session in P2 on the timesheets and, while he admits that the times were not representative, the Alfa Romeo driver is feeling optimistic about his prospects. "It's a bit special today with the Pirelli tyre test," Bottas told media, including RacingNews365.co m . "And, obviously, because I didn't drive in the first session, that meant that I could still do a couple of runs setting up the car in the beginning, so [that was] different to the Pirelli programme. "I completed that programme afterwards, so the lap times [were] not really representative. But actually, today overall the day felt good."
Bottas sets qualifying aim at US GP
Bottas hopes that updates being brought to his C42 during the rest of the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas will further benefit him. "[It was] just one session for me, but immediately the car didn't feel too bad, and we still didn't have the upgrades," the 10-time race winner said. "We're going to have them tomorrow, so let's see." As such, Bottas has set his sights on a good qualifying position. "We definitely can find improvements and we still have the upgrades to the car tomorrow," he added. "So based on the feeling I had today, I think we definitely need to be in the top 10 here in qualifying, and I think that is realistic." Bottas currently sits P10 in the World Championship standings, while Alfa Romeo hold sixth in the Constructors'.
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