Earlier this month, Alfa Romeo announced that it would officially launch its car after the first three-day test on the Barcelona-Catalonia highway, making it the last in the network where the official presentation will take place.
Drivers Walter Botas and Guanyu Zhou took part in tests earlier this week using black and white camouflage livery, but the final design of this year’s car has been revealed.
The team retains the traditional colors of the Alfa Romeo brand for this season, but has moved from predominantly white livery to a mostly red design.
Most of the nose, bulkheads and halo have turned red on this year’s car, while the bonnet has also turned red, with the addition of “Alfa Romeo” written in old-fashioned font.
The livery was created by the Alfa Rome Centro Stile design center. According to the team, it is “a stunning but subtle nod to the past, reminiscent of the historical designs of years past and the legacy of Alfa Romeo and Sauber Motorsport in the 30th year of Hinwil’s Formula One team.”
“The start of the season is always an exciting time in which we see the fruits of hundreds of people over a long period of time,” said team leader Frederic Wasser.
The C42 is a car we’re looking forward to racing not only because it’s the first we’ve built in this new cycle of regulations in which racing needs to be closer and more exciting, but also because we’re confident that this car will help the team make a big step forward in front of the net ”.
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The official launch of the C42 took place after a hard walk for Alfa Romeo in Barcelona, where it sank to the back of the mileage chart.
Three days of running were interrupted by a series of problems that limited the team to just 175 laps between Botas, Zhou and substitute rider Robert Kubica. Only Haas passed fewer laps during the test.
Botas has joined the team with Mercedes for the 2022 season and earlier this week said he is enjoying his first days with Alfa Romeo, despite the fact that in the first test he spent only 54 laps.
“The size of the team is a little smaller, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing, and at least as long as I like it,” Botas said.
“There are so many new people and new things to get used to and learn from, and yet I would say I am in the process of adapting to get to know the team properly and how everything works. But it’s part of the training.
“I’d say it was a pretty quick process of getting used to it. But there is a good mood. I really, really enjoyed it, and with a little more time on the track I would have been even happier, but at least it was fun. ”
The Alfa Romeo C42 will appear on the track in the second pre-season test, which will be held in Bahrain from March 10 to 12, before the opening of the Bahrain Grand Prix season on March 20.