Alfa Romeo Racing had a very difficult year in 2020 with 8th in the constructors championship and only 8 points between the drivers. They lacked consistency, approach and coherence in the team functioning and adding to the woes was the underperforming Ferrari engine with their previous C39 car. The new car launch was hopeful at best.
Watch the presentation here
Alfa Romeo Team
Frederic Vasseur, the team principal is putting his house on order as a first priority. With the addition of the new SIM facility they are in line for the development upgrades ,but the expertise to use the SIM is to be exploited and it will take time to reap its benefits. So the design philosophy is simple. The front nose has changed radically along with the lot of aero upgrades to regain the lost performance due to barge board regulation changes in 2021.
The Car
The new C41 uses the Ferrari 2021 hybrid engine and as Ferrari engine woes as per rumors are to be continued into 2021. The new car though uses the old 2020 homologation transmission instead of the new one. This is one such example of many carryovers from C39. According to the technical team, the car is still under development and the focus is on the gains to 2022 and the new regulations.
Alfa Romeo Expectations
The other constant is the drivers both KIMI (still in top form) and Antonio. The young gun who has many impressive first laps, needs to show his worth in getting into Q3 which is a difficult ask. There is a huge knife over his head in the form of Robert Schwartzman who is a probable Alfa driver in the future. With 2021 considered KIMI’s last season, rest assured the expectations of the team to be in the midfield battle , stability and consistency, Q3 expectations and looking to 2022 gains is going to be tough ask.
