Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur says the team must aim for its first double Q2 appearance of the 2020 campaign amid recent gains in Formula 1.
The Ferrari-powered squad has been among the backmarkers this year, along with Haas and Williams, but has picked up four points to hold eighth in the standings.
Alfa Romeo has had the slowest one-lap package on several occasions and has always had at least one car out in Q1, with Antonio Giovinazzi yet to escape the first knockout session.
Formula 1 will this weekend travel to the Nurburgring, for the Eifel Grand Prix, where a championship round has not been held since 2013.
“We saw some encouraging signs in the last few races but you don’t get any points for self-confidence, you get them for top 10 finishes and this is what we need to aim for,” said Vasseur.
“We expect the weekend to be colder than what we have experienced so far, so finding the right setup for these conditions will be crucial to be competitive.
“The Eifel weather is famous for being fickle so that could mix up the cards on Saturday and Sunday and we’ll need to be ready to react to changing circumstances.
“In the end, we know that we can put two cars in Q2 and that has to be our aim: if we do that, we can play a role in the battle for the top 10 come race day.”
Giovinazzi added that “the last few races have given us a bit of a confidence boost: we know we are a lot closer to the cars in front of us now and we can be in the thick of the fight if we do our job properly.
“The key aspect remains to have a good qualifying and a clean execution during the race: if we do that, we can be in the right place when opportunities appear.”
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