Amidst the exciting buzz of F1’s technical regulation changes for 2023, Alfa Romeo finds itself left “scratching its head” after the FIA’s last-minute amendment resulted in a major overhaul of its brand-new C43.
The Swiss-based team revealed its stunning red and black, Stake-branded car via a live-streamed launch, becoming the fourth F1 team to showcase its livery. But it wasn’t just the glossy exterior that was on display, as the team revealed a show car based on the actual Grand Prix racing machine.
Despite finishing last season with a commendable sixth place in the Constructors’ Championships, the team’s hopes for a storming start to the 2022 season were stunted by reliability and development issues.
Despite these challenges, Alfa Romeo’s Technical Director Jan Monchaux is confident that the C43 is a step forward and is “pretty sexy”.
However, Monchaux expresses concern that the FIA’s changes to the technical regulations, including measures to eliminate porpoising, may give bigger outfits like Red Bull and Mercedes an advantage.
He says, “We were slightly irritated by the timing because it was decided very late and usually late changes are favoring bigger outfits.”
The Alfa team’s primary focus for the 2023 season was to reinforce reliability and avoid the issues that hindered last year’s progress.
Monchaux gives an insight into the development process, stating that the team started drafting its 2023 strategy a few weeks after the 2022 rollout and identified areas with potential for improvement. The team concentrated mainly on the rear end of the car and took a bold step in terms of pure development.