(Motorsport) Formula 1 team Alfa Romeo have unveiled their 2022 car called C42 with a red and white livery for the upcoming season. Powered by the Ferrari engine, the Italian manufacturers are celebrating their 30th year in Formula 1 and the car’s livery has a subtle nod to the past and the heritage of both Alfa Romeo and Sauber. The C42 will be driven by former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, the first Chinese F1 driver and the only rookie on the grid.
Speaking at the launch, the 22 year old Chinese driver said “I am fully pumped up for the season and seeing the C42 in the livery in which I will race it definitely makes it real. We are at the beginning of a new era, with new cars and new regulations, and this creates an opportunity for all teams to make progress since we are all starting from scratch. I can't wait to be on the grid with this car and work with my team to bring home the results we are targeting together."
His teammate and former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas said “I think the livery is really beautiful, the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile did a brilliant job. It's my first car at Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, of course, which makes it special, and I am really looking forward to being on the grid in Bahrain with it. What is exciting is that we have no idea how that first race is going to pan out.
Testing helped us confirm our expectations of where we stand, the progress we have made with the car, but now we are getting closer to the moment that really matters. Since I joined, I have seen so much motivation within this team: everyone is pushing a lot, trying to work harder than the others to be competitive, and that in turn gives me that extra boost when I am in the cockpit.”
The C42 has already completed three days of testing in Barcelona, although it was done in a camouflage livery as the official unveiling was scheduled for February 27th. Some of the more noticeable changes in the car is a sophisticated front wing, a push-rod rear suspension which is similar to a Red Bull, AlphaTauri and McLaren and a cooling system similar to Ferrari. As per the 2022 regulations, the wheelbase length should be between 3460-3600mm and every team except for Alfa Romeo seems to be at the upper end of this spectrum. The Italian manufacturer has a wheelbase of just over 3500mm.
Team Principal Fred Vasseur said “The start of the season is always an exciting time, one in which we see the fruit of the work of hundreds of people over a long period of time. The C42 is a car we look forward to seeing racing, not just because it is the first we built in this new regulations cycle, one in which racing should be closer and more thrilling, but because we have the utmost confidence in this car helping the team make a big step forward towards the front of the grid.”
Technical Director Jan Monchaux added: “As we unveil the C42, it may feel like the start of a new season: we know, however, that this launch is just a milestone in a much longer journey in which our whole staff in Hinwil has invested so much time, resource and energies. Designing and building this car has been a huge undertaking and we can be proud of what we have achieved, but our work is not finished. As always in a new rules cycle, the development curve will be at its steepest this season and we need to continue extracting new performance out of the C42 to make the progress we have set as an objective for ourselves.”
All the Formula 1 teams will now shift their attention to the official pre-season testing in Bahrain which is set to begin on March 10th.
Also read: Formula 1 team Alpine reveals 2022 car A522 ahead of pre-season testing
