F1 2021 Car Launch 3: Alfa Romeo Ferrari

We can definitely tell the season is arriving soon, as the third team has launched their car and team, in a somewhat Italian way.

The C41 was launched in Warsaw’s Grand Theatre featuring the drivers Kimi ‘The Iceman’ Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi and reserve driver Robert Kubica, likely shown off due to the request of Polish sponsors Orlen.

Alfa Romeo spent a lot of 2020 sitting towards the back of the field, fighting for the odd point. Some say it was down to the Ferrari powertrain, which was easily the worst in the field.

Kimi, who is starting his 19th season in the sport, hopes to better his 2020 season, and aims to make it back to the midfield. Ferrari back up this claim, because they have stated that their updated powertrain is superior, though just how superior we will find out in under 3 weeks.

The Alfa Romeo, which fronts a reversed livery over last season, something that was also seen on the AlphaTauri, will take to the track on Friday, in a shakedown session at the Catalunya Race circuit in Spain.

Every F1 team, thanks to budget cuts in this Covid era, has 2 development tokens which they can use on their existing 2020 car. Alfa Romeo has used theirs on the front of the car, with a new nose, brakes and floor being a part of this. One of the regulations for 2021 is smaller diffusers, meaning less downforce, so a lot of teams have headed to the front of the car to gain this lost downforce.

The Alfa Romeo C41, still owned by Sauber in Switzerland, has definitely focused on the handling side of things, meaning tracks like Monaco should be where the Alfa Romeo benefits. Questions though will remain about what will happen to them in 2022, when the Alfa Romeo partnership is expected to conclude. Now in his 40’s Raikkonen cannot be seen as a long term prospect for the team and questions will be raised on the benefit of keeping Giovanzzi around for another year, as his seat is tied largely to Alfa’s and Ferrari’s involvement.

I personally still see the team struggling down outside the top 10, as there has been little development and a lot of the 2020 car still exists. All that remains to be seen is whether this new Ferrari engine is a huge jump up from their disappointing 2020 engine.

You can find the previous Car Launch Analysis, here; AlphaTauri

You can find the next Car Launch Analysis, here: Red Bull