Alfa Romeo hopes new C43 F1 car is “an all-rounder”

The new red and carbon livery seen on the new C43 thus represents a final fling for the Alfa name as the team gradually starts to build up its resources and staffing levels.

The impact of that expansion may be seen more clearly in 2024, as the latest car was designed like its predecessor on a relatively tight budget and is a logical progression from the Swiss outfit’s first attempt with the current rules – and which it now admits it didn’t get quite right.

The C42 had its weaknesses but it was still capable of earning sixth place in the constructors’ championship, albeit more than 100 points shy of McLaren in fifth.

If the team has successfully addressed its issues and found more consistent performance and crucially better reliability the potential is there to make a decent step.

“I feel like this car is at least from the numbers in the simulator a bit more of an all-rounder, versus just quick on the slow speed tracks,” said Valtteri Bottas when asked by Motorsport.com if consistency was key.

“One big limitation last year was high speed, just pure high-speed load and balance. And in theory, that should be way better. So let’s see.”

Bottas and the rest of the team will get their first indication of how the car performs when it completes a filming day in Barcelona on Friday ahead of the official test in Bahrain the following week.

“We have high expectations,” Alfa technical director Jan Monchaux said.

“First of all, during the winter test, we want to be on the track at all times, not spending our time in the garage with some stupid small mistakes or issues that prevent us from running.

“So it’s not nice to be in my shoes right now, because everything could be good, and the next minute you have another issue to tackle and to sort.

“So I’ll be glad when we are in Barcelona, and the car is running, and hopefully running smoothly, so that we can get into serious work.”

Along with the floor tweaks intended to address porpoising that all teams have had to deal, Monchaux and his team have focussed most of their efforts on the rear of the car.

Last year, decisions on cooling and other packaging elements were made that didn’t really pay off.

“The rear end is certainly where we spent most effort, most time to make up ground for us, in terms of topology of the rear and opening the door to further development,” he says.

“Especially on the bodywork side, which was not possible last year, because…