Alfa Romeo and Valtteri Bottas Take First Power Unit Change of 2022 F1 Season

The much-awaited 2022 season finally began with the first two free practices concluding for the Bahrain GP. But Valtteri Bottas has already run into a problem with the power unit which requires a control electronics change. The 32-year-old Finnish driver and his car’s power units have never actually gotten along, at least not in recent times. Even during the Mercedes days, Bottas quite frequently had a new ICE at the back of his car. It seems that tradition continues even in Alfa Romeo. The former Mercedes driver became the first driver this season to get a power unit part change.

Bottas didn’t enjoy his first practice session in Bahrain. Having just started the session, the driver soon had to return to the garage after a few misfires. When the driver again came back out on track, he had to return to the garage once again because of the issue with the control electronics. Therefore, the Italian constructor had to fit one of the two new control electronics for the 2022 season into Bottas’ car.

Can Valtteri Bottas succeed with Alfa Romeo in 2022?

After spending five seasons with Mercedes, Bottas finally leaves the German team for Alfa Romeo in 2022. Bottas was an important part of the Mercedes that helped them win 5 constructor titles. But he was never the number one driver there because of the seven-time world champion. Therefore, Bottas left the Brackley base after his contract expired at the end of the 2021 season.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo had a hard time last season, finishing ninth on the table with just 13 points. Therefore, the Italian constructor decided to have a fresh start in the 2022 season with a new driver line-up. Alfa Romeo got the F1 rookie Guanyu Zhou, who is also the first full time Chinese driver in F1, and they got Vallteri Bottas to fill in the vacant seat of retired Kimi Raikkonen.

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It was a good opportunity for Bottas to not stand behind an ace drive, but himself become the primary and carry the torch towards success. The Finnish driver had decent pre-season testing with Alfa Romeo. However, fast-forward to today, Bottas finished last on the FP1 because of the power unit issue but managed to get finished P6 during FP2.

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There are chances for Valtteri Bottas to succeed with Alfa Romeo. He might not win that many races this season. But Valtteri will surely help the team rise up in the standing from the ninth finish last season.