34-year-old driver admits Las Vegas race was huge ‘missed opportunity’ last weekend

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Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has admitted he wasn’t happy with how the race in Las Vegas went last weekend.

The Finnish driver was speaking at the driver’s press conference today ahead of Sunday’s race in Abu Dhabi.

It’s likely that Valtteri Bottas will want to put the 2023 season behind him as quickly as possible.

He’s scored just 10 points this season, and regardless of where he finishes this weekend, it will be his worst points tally in Formula 1 since his rookie season in 2013.

Alfa Romeo have had one of the slowest cars on the grid with Bottas and Zhou Guanyu only scoring points at six out of 21 race this year.

They only sit above Haas in the Constructors’ Championship and one good result from Kevin Magnussen or Niko Hulkenberg could cost them millions in prize money if they end up finishing last.

Bottas has admitted that after a brilliant weekend up to the race in Las Vegas, he was disappointed with the eventual result.

He achieved one of his best qualifying performances of the year to start seventh, but things quickly went downhill from there.

Bottas fuming as Las Vegas missed opportunity

Asked about how last weekend went, Bottas said: “I think it was definitely a missed opportunity like the whole weekend we actually seemed strong on that particular track.

“Every session we were in the top 10 including qualifying and then everything gets thrown in the bin in turn one with the damage, it’s tough to accept but that’s the name of the game sometimes and we’ve got one more opportunity here to try and get some more points.”

Bottas was caught up in the madness that happened on the first corner in Las Vegas, hitting Fernando Alonso not once but twice.

He was marooned behind the Aston Martin, losing loads of time and picking up a bit of damage for good measure.

That level of luck has followed Bottas around all season and he won’t want to reflect for too long on this campaign.

The Finn will be desperate to give Alfa Romeo a good send-off this weekend after they confirmed they’ll be leaving the sport.

Sauber’s partnership with the Italian manufacturer will end after six years, although the constructor’s new name hasn’t been revealed yet.

Bottas and Zhou will still be there regardless and hoping they can improve on this year’s offering.

With a Ferrari power unit behind them, they’ve got a chance of making their way up the grid.