Alfa started the 2023 season on the front foot with four points for Bottas' eighth place in Bahrain and team-mate Zhou Guanyu has also shown marked improvement compared to his 2022 rookie campaign.
But amid F1's extremely tight midfield battle, the Sauber-run team has missed out more often than not, having only scavenged points in four weekends out of 10 grands prix so far.
In the British GP at Silverstone, where Alfa Romeo had brought a comprehensive upgrade package, it was demoted by Alex Albon and Williams to ninth in the constructors' championship, as Bottas' comeback drive from 20th to 12th was left without rewards.
For Alfa, whose C43 is a stable platform but still lacks aerodynamical load compared to its competitors, there is set to be very few signs of immediate improvement in Hungary and Belgium, as 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 GP. "That's the name of the game, so [we] need to find a bit more.
"We don't have anything coming in the next two events, until after the summer break, so the guys and girls need to work really hard in the factory to bring some new bits."
Post-summer upgrades aside, Bottas acknowledged that the Hinwil squad should start looking at whether its efforts are better aimed at its 2024 car or whether it is worth continuing to push with its current machine.
Source: Autosport