The Grand Theatre in Warsaw was the setting for the unveiling of this season’s Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN new C41 Formula 1 car, accompanied by team drivers, Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and reserve driver, Robert Kubica, dressed in their striking new livery for the 2021 season.
The new C41 has been designed by the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, featuring the now traditional red and white colours of the team under the supervision of Technical Director Jan Monchaux. The new car is an evolution of the C39 that competed last year, however, due to new restrictions imposed by this year’s regulations, this year’s car carries over many of the components of its predecessor, while at the same time having a fresh new appearance, particular at the front with a completely restyled nose cone, which was an area on which the team chose to focus on in the car’s development. Underneath the pretty exterior you will find a new Ferrari engine.
Alfa Romeo’s traditional Quadrifoglio (four-leaf clover) logo adorns the car’s bodywork, along with the logo of Autodelta, the brand’s legendary racing team.
The team is again this season working alongside Sauber Motorsport. The partnership between the two teams started in 2018, when Alfa Romeo joined the team as title sponsor. In these three years of operative collaboration, the team has achieved some good results on which to build on for this season.
However, the two teams’ partnership is not solely in Formula 1 and extends beyond racing, being both technical and commercial, and allows Sauber Engineering’s technical expertise to be transferred to Alfa Romeo road car production. For example, the Giulia GTA project, whereby Alfa Romeo entrusted Sauber Engineering with the production of most of the carbon components in the GTA and GTAm, especially the aerodynamic parts.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG, commented:
“The launch of a new car is always an emotional moment, the culmination of months of effort from everyone back at the factory and the start of a new adventure. I think the philosophy upon which the team is based remains the same – we have to do a better job tomorrow than we are doing today. We finished last season in P8, so we have to target a better result in 2021. To do so, we have to keep improving in each department, trackside and back at HQ. Every team on the grid has very high expectations right now: all the teams expect to do a good job in the winter and to be in a good position for the first race, but soon it will be the time for everyone to show their cards.”
Jan Monchaux, Technical Director Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, said:
“The C41 is the result of a very unusual situation in Formula One, in which the regulations have made us unable to develop an entire new car for this year. For this reason, our 2021 car shares a lot of common parts with the C39, with the exception of those which the regulations forced us to change – such as the floor – and the nosecone, in which we invested our two development tokens. This means we will know the car much better than usual when we get to testing, but it’s still going to be crucial to make the most of those three days to verify that reality matches our expectations and to get to know the new tyres. We are ready for the new season and we can’t wait to see our new car on track.”
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel, a professional photographer and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs courtesy of Alfa Romeo
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