The F1 team pulls back the cover on their C43
Tuesday morning, Alfa Romeo became the latest team to debut their livery for the upcoming Formula 1 season.
They also pulled back the covers on their car, the C43, for the 2023 F1 campaign, completed with some technical modifications to the rear end of the vehicle.
The rebranded Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake unveiled the C43 at an event in both Zurich and at the team’s headquarters in Hinwil, Switzerland. Drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were present as well as reserve driver Théo Pourchaire. The livery is a striking red and black design, with title sponsor Stake getting the highlighted spot on the car.
Alfa Romeo is in their last year with the team, as Audio comes aboard for the 2024 season.
Following the unveiling, Alfa Romeo’s Technical Director Jan Monchaux discussed the C43, and some of the changes from last year’s model, the C42. “This car is an evolution of last year, reflecting the new regulations and introducing major changes in the areas where we found improvements to be needed. I hope it’s going to be quicker than the successful car we had last year, that’s what matters most, and more reliable as well. We have put a lot of effort in this direction.”
According to Monchaux, their focus this season was on the rear of the vehicle. Speaking at the unveiling in Zurich, he commented: “We identified areas where we thought there was still potential for us to unleash, potential we wouldn’t be able to unleash in the 2022 season. We concentrated mainly on the rear part of the car, where we just wanted to be brave enough to do the next step in terms of pure development on the rear end, which opened the door to a lot of other solutions we couldn’t implement last year.”
He continued:
“In effect, we decided to change the rear axis, redoing the rear suspension, and therefore the gearbox casing, which then opens the door to new layouts, especially on the [cooling] side, which once in place allowed us to develop the bodywork.
“Last year – during the season – it was not possible, and the concept we had followed last year, we were of the opinion that [the race car] had come to a sort of plateau, and to unleash the next level of performance, we had to do all those changes that have been quite a journey for us, because it’s a big, big, complex part we had to re-do.
“Then, evidently, all the rear-end work we see with the floor, alongside the new regs… so we’ve really been putting a lot of effort on the second part of the car, while the front will be successively developed during the season.
“[The C43 is] quite a change for us in terms of the bodywork and how we handle the hot air coming from the radiators, compared to last year’s car. It’s not a revolution, [as] similar solutions were on the grid already last year, but it’s something we couldn’t implement without a major change of the architecture.”
Alfa Romeo looks to improve on last year’s finish, when they placed sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with 55 points, alongside Aston Martin. That was their best finish in the Constructors’ since returning to the grid for the 2019 season, after a nearly two decade absence.
The team is taking their C43 to the track for the first time next week, in a “shake down” session at Barcelona ahead of preseason testing at Bahrain, scheduled for later this month.
Alfa Romeo is now the fourth team to unveil their look for the 2023 F1 season. Haas went first, followed by Red Bull last Friday, and then Williams on Monday to open the week.
