2021 F1 Alfa Romeo Car Launch Review: James Punt
2021 F1 Alfa Romeo New Car Launch
2021 F1 Alfa Romeo – Finishing in eighth place in 2020, Alfa Romeo have become somewhat invisible. Kimi Raikkonen remains for another year, but the question must be why? These manufacturer ‘B’ teams are there to give new drivers a chance to learn, to serve an apprenticeship, before moving up to the parent teams if good enough.
In Alfa Romeo’s case, this is Ferrari. It worked for Charles Leclerc but Giovinazzi has had two seasons to prove himself but doesn’t look to have any chance of becoming a Ferrari driver. Raikkonen is presumably there to bring experience to the team. However, with the team struggling thanks to the poor Ferrari power units in 2020, it is a team at something of a dead end.
Things are not helped by the fact that Fiat and Peugeot have merged to form Stellantis, a giant car maker who now own the Alfa Romeo brand. It is up to the new owners to decide on whether they wish to continue to use Formula 1 to promote the brand (their two year deal with Sauber ends this year). The team could revert to their Sauber identity once again. However, the money to run it has to come from somewhere.
The cost cap has made running an F1 team much more attractive from a business point of view. Finding a buyer is much easier than it would have been a couple of years ago. However, trying to find new owners or investors is a necessary distraction from the job of making their car more competitive.
2021 F1 Alfa Romeo Power Unit Crucial
The key to Alfa Romeo’s 2021 season will be just how much better the new Ferrari power unit will be. Sauber have committed to the Ferrari power units until 2025, so it is more than just 2021. Last year they were giving up around 65bhp to Mercedes powered teams. So, it was no surprise to see Alfa Romeo very much in division three of the constructor’s championship. That they were ‘best of the worst’ was damming on Williams and Haas.
Alfa Romeo have been very quiet all winter. There is very little to report on. The new car is said to have a new front end but their prospects are pinned very much on how much progress Ferrari have made with the 2021 power units. That will only become apparent at the three day pre-season test and when the actual racing starts. However, there can’t be much room for optimism.
As a Ferrari B team, they are dependant on Ferrari coming up with the goods. They certainly did not last year. Alfa Romeo finished in eighth place last season, scoring just 8 points. That was three ninth places and a tenth. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi scored four points each and they could only score in the high attrition races. In 2019, when Ferrari had a very powerful, if ultimately illegal power unit, Alfa Romeo scored 57 points but still finished in eighth place.
Uninspiring Drivers
In all likelihood, Alfa Romeo will have a more powerful Ferrari power unit which will improve their performance. But, it is still likely to be behind the Mercedes, Honda and Renault units. The driver line up is not the most inspiring. Raikkonen still has his moments but he is past his best. Giovinazzi is the token Italian in the sport but he isn’t officer material and certainly not good enough to be considered as potential Ferrari driver.
The team is basically Sauber in Alfa Romeo clothing. Sauber are a well-established outfit who know how to survive in Formula 1. Thriving in F1 is not really on their radar, however. Perhaps in a few year’s time, when the effects of the cost cap closes the gap between the teams, they will return to some sort of level of competitiveness, but for now they remain detached from the midfield and their realistic target will be to finish in eighth place for the fourth year in a row.
The team’s position is attributable to years of under investment and while others progressed, Sauber were left standing still. Throw in too much movement of technical personnel and you have something of a perfect storm of mediocrity.
2021 F1 Alfa Romeo Car Launch
The launch of the car today saw the 2021 car has a revised and very smart paint job and the nose has indeed been slimmed down as is the generally trend these days. Like Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo have spent their two development tokens on the front of the car. The nose is modified, the front suspension redesigned along with changes to the front wing, bargeboards and front brake drums. The rear of the car remains largely unchanged apart from the enforced changes to the floor and diffuser, common to all the teams. The chassis and gearbox are straight carry overs from last year.
The team emphasized that they spent their limited resources on areas they hoped would bring the ‘highest return on investment’, which underlines that this is not a wealthy team, even with a cost cap they won’t be spending as much as they are allowed to. No targets have been set in terms of finishing position and survival is the name of the game for Alfa Romeo/Sauber.
Quicker Car
The cost capped future cannot come soon enough for Alfa Romeo/Sauber. As for this year’s prospects, they are more than likely to be quicker thanks to an improved Ferrari power unit. Whether that will be enough to allow Alfa Romeo to have more than the occasional foray into the top 10 when the attrition rates are high, remains to be seen.
However, the fact is that in the Turbo Hybrid era, Sauber/Alfa Romeo have never finished higher than eighth in the Constructors Championship and it would be a surprise if that were to change. They finished 99 points behind the seventh-place team in 2020 and shrinking that gap must be the minimum ambition.
