Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN is heading to familiar ground for the sixth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. It's a return to Catalonia, to the venue that saw the team's C42 make its debut in pre-season testing and that has seen pre-season action in most recent years – so much to earn it its status of "best-known track in Formula One".

Those days in February were not easy ones for the team: the impact of the 2022 regulations meant Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN had to face unexpected issues that hampered the running over that first week of action and left the team with big issues to solve.

But this is Round 6. Much has happened since those challenging days of February. The team has made strides in understanding its machine, on track and in the engineering office. Our personnel at home have honed the car and placed at our disposal updates that have helped us fight at the front of the midfield. The tide has turned, and we are marching on to the results we are aiming for.

As we head to Barcelona, we have full confidence in our means and our skills on and off the track. We are ready to revisit Catalonia.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We head to Barcelona with the aim of extending our positive streak at the start of the season: I feel we are now in a situation in which our objectives will be similar for each round going forward, and not too different from what we have had so far this season – both cars in Q2, one in Q3 and points on Sunday. This doesn't mean we are underestimating the challenge ahead of us in Catalonia or anywhere else: the midfield is going to be a close, intense and thrilling fight throughout the season, and it will be a fight decided by small margins in each race. We are also very curious about where the updates each team is bringing are going to put everyone: our team had to face a massive challenge to respond to the pressure under which the incidents of recent events have put us, but our workforce have come back with hard work and determination, and we will have plenty to evaluate this weekend. This is a race which can bring a bit of a shake-up to the order we've seen so far, and I am confident our team has done the work needed to be among the ones who have done the better job."

Valtteri Bottas: "We had a really strong showing in Miami and, with every good result, comes the confidence to push for more. We head to Barcelona knowing we can be in the fight for the front of the midfield again: we're in the midst of an interesting battle with our direct rivals every weekend and I don't expect this one to be any different. It is crucial we have a flawless weekend, here more than ever: Barcelona is a track that holds no secrets for any team, so there won't be any silver bullet to find to be ahead of the others, it will be about execution and doing our homework. For sure, we arrive in Barcelona in a much happier state than when we left after winter testing, which is proof of how well this team has bounced back after the difficulties we encountered in February. I want to repay all this great work with a good result."

Zhou Guanyu: "Barcelona is another important stage in this season: it's a track the team knows well and I want to make the most of it to get back after the disappointment of a technical DNF last time out in Miami, when we had the speed to bring home some points. Driving this car here is not going to be a new experience for me, of course: as with Bahrain at the beginning of the season, I approach a track on which I've driven before with this generation of cars. Of course, the car we race now is not the same we had in testing, but it's an advantage nonetheless, so my focus will be fully on delivering my best and bringing home the good result our season so far deserves. My target is the same as it was in every round until now, but the confidence in my means to deliver it grows with every race."