Alfa Romeo launches new car 2021 with big debate ahead of new Formula 1 season

Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi on hand as the new Glitzy Warsaw Alfa Romeo is unveiled; Alfa Romeo struggled to finish eighth in the 2021 F1 season and have focused on the front of a new car for speed gains

Alfa Romeo has launched the car that they hope will begin to transform their Formula 1 fortunes in the 2021 season.

The third challenger announced for the new F1 campaign starting in March, the C41 Alfa Romeo was launched in a spectacular show at the Warsaw Grand Theater featuring drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Alfa Romeo slipped behind the midfield with an eighth-place finish all of last season but have used their two permitted development marks on a new ‘nose’ and front suspension to find more performance.

“Hopefully we are better off than we were last year,” said 2007 champion Raikkonen, starting his 19th season of Formula 1.

“We’ll do our best when we come into being.”

The C41 – which also reflects what Ferrari engine suppliers are confident of as a new and improved power unit for 2021 – will make its debut in Barcelona on Friday.

“I think the philosophy on which the team is based remains the same – we need to do a better job tomorrow than we do today,” said team leader Frederic Vasseur.

“We finished the last season in P8, so we need to focus on better results in 2021. To do that, we need to continue to improve in all areas, on both sides of the road and back at the ‘head office.

“Every team has very high expectations on the grid at the moment: all the teams expect to do a good job in the winter and be in a good position for the first race, but soon this is the time for everyone to show off their cards. “

Can Alfa Romeo go back in the midfield package?

Alfa Romeo are one of just three teams to keep their driver up last year with the ever-green Raikkonen, 41, with Italian Giovinazzi for the third season in a row.

Giovinazzi, whose chair had been in jeopardy this year from Ferrari-backed Mick Schumacher before Haas signed the German youngster, got a better 2020 compared to Raikkonen and sent the veteran out. over the 17-race campaign.

But none of the drivers had a device to compete for points on a regular basis, with the team scoring just eight compared to 57 in 2019.

Although they run under the well-known car brand name Alfa Romeo as part of a technical partnership that expanded to naming rights from 2019, the team is still run by Sauber Motorsport and based in Hinwil, Switzerland.

McLaren and AlphaTauri are the only other teams to have announced their new cars so far, with Red Bull next Tuesday.