Alfa Romeo delighted us with another car launch this morning, and this one impressed everybody. The design team inverted the 2020 livery and produced a car that has been received exceptionally well by F1 fans everywhere. This was not the only change, with tokens being spent on car development that will be looked into closely.
The Car:
The look of the car is the obvious first thing to discuss. This reverse livery was loved by everybody who saw it, more than any other launch so far. The changes to this car were so obvious to see and will look incredible on track in 2021. Despite being only the third car launch, there is going to be a hard battle for any car to replace it as the best livery on the circuit this year. Let’s just hope that can be translated into points in the championship. It would be a shame for such a beautiful car to race around the back of the grid.
In terms of technical changes, it is obvious that the nose of the car has changed the most. Technical director Jan Monchaux stated that this is in fact what they chose to spend their tokens on. They are hoping that this, alongside the new front wing and suspension will improve their championship hopes for this year. He also discussed that Alfa Romeo, focussed closely on the floor of the car. This is something that all of the teams seem to have done this year. We will find out in a couple of weeks in Bahrain whether this is going to improve their chances in the F1 championship this year.
The drivers:
This launch, like McLaren, gave us live interviews with the 2021 drivers, including test and reserve driver Robert Kubica. All three men were wearing the new race suits for this season. The new suit design is much more white-based and alongside the car, looks very classy. In terms of the drivers themselves, nothing out of the ordinary occured. Kimi Räikkönen was his usual ‘iceman’ self, but ultimately both drivers and their reserve seemed optimistic for the seasons. There was a clear target set by the drivers, to improve on last year. They are of course unsure of the quality of the car until testing occurs so they were simply hoping to see some positive steps forward in upcoming races.
Another car launch done and only one day before the next one. With a new driver and their final year with Honda directly, I’m sure that Red Bull will give us something to be excited about.