Valtteri Bottas is disappointed with Alfa Romeo's 2023 season so far

Valtteri Bottas has acknowledged that his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team will soon need to make a decision on when to shift their focus to the 2024 season.

Alfa Romeo started the 2023 season positively, with Bottas securing four points for his eighth-place finish in Bahrain.

Additionally, his teammate Zhou Guanyu has shown significant improvement compared to his debut season in 2022.

However, despite their promising start, the team has struggled to consistently score points in the highly competitive midfield battle, falling short of their season targets.

Out of the ten Grand Prix races so far, Alfa Romeo has only managed to secure points in four of them.

Their recent upgrade package at Silverstone did not yield the desired results, as they were surpassed by both Alex Albon and Williams, slipping to ninth place in the constructors' championship.

Bottas' impressive comeback drive from 20th to 12th went unrewarded.

Alfa Romeo's C43 car, while providing stability, lacks the desired aerodynamic load compared to its competitors. As a result, immediate improvements are not anticipated in Hungary and Belgium, and the team's next upgrades will come after the summer shutdown.

"Definitely we made a step but also other teams need to make steps," Bottas said after the British Grand Prix. "That's the name of the game, so need to find a bit more.

"We don't have anything coming in the next two events but after the summer break, so the guys and girls need to work really hard in the factory to bring some new bits.

"I think at this point, we're approaching halfway off the season, and we've not been able to really move up the order.

"At some point, we'll decide when it's going to be 100% focus for next year. And I'm sure the discussions are going to be made soon.

"We were expecting to be better than last year, but we just didn't find enough during the winter and the beginning of the season so far.

"We're not meeting the targets we've set ourselves."