- Formula One team Alfa Romeo has launched its new 2023 F1 design, the C43.
- Valtteri Botas says the new C43 design was engineered for success
- They are looking at making it to the top
Formula One team Alfa Romeo has launched its new 2023 F1 design, the C43.
The team, headquartered in Switzerland, improved from ninth in the 2021 championship to sixth last season.
They entered their final year operating under the Alfa Romeo brand. The new design has a stunning rear end, and improved aerodynamics.
Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Botas said that the new C43 design was engineered for success, which is all they want and improved performance.
Bottas and teammate Zhou Guanyu introduced a display vehicle that was a replica of the 2023 model. This season’s new design of the Alpha Romeo will be tested for the first time at the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday and Saturday.
Alfa Romeo 2023 design. Photo/F1
Red Bull and Williams’ launches featured static models of generic automobiles rather than actual 2023 designs for their machines.
Alfa Romeo’s Jan Monchaux, the technical director, said they focused mainly on the back of the car. This allowed them to make a lot of additional advancements that were not available in the 2022 season.
The team’s engineers worked tirelessly on solving a dozen reliability problems that its drivers grappled with last season.
“We concentrated mainly on the rear part of the car, which opened the door to a lot of other developments we could not use last season. It was also clear we had a lot of reliability issues, so there is a lot of things we changed on the car to address that topic,” BBC quotes Monchaux.
Several design cues were inspired by Red Bull’s strategy in 2022, which saw them win a world championship and a second one with one of the most dominant campaigns in the history of Formula One.
This came about due to significant rule changes made before 2022. The form of the side-pods, which appear to have been influenced by Red Bull in terms of how they funnel airflow to the rear, is undeniable in this regard.
Monchaux cited that their 2022 model failed to control the flow to the diffuser and the rear tyres, which placed them in a bind for the whole season. Yet, they finished sixth.
According to him, the modifications made to the car’s rear allowed the cooling system, including the radiators and other components, to be significantly revised, opening up new design options for the bodywork.
The team’s technical director notes that the C43 aerodynamics are far better than any other model. Engineers in the team put their energies into working on the floor at the rear tyres.
This season’s new rules boost the floor edges by 15mm to reduce the aerodynamic bouncing, or “porpoising,” that several teams encountered.
Alfa Romeo. Photo/Race Tech Magazine
The adjustment, according to Monchaux, lost 0.5 seconds every lap, but most teams would make up for that loss and more in January 2023.
Team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi said their objective is putting the team at the top under its new CEO Andreas Seidl.
Alfa Romeo, formerly known as Sauber, will be acquired by Audi after the 2023 season. Bottas and co will stop wearing the Alfa Romeo logo at the end of the season.
Seidl will prepare the squad for the German auto giant’s formal entrance in 2026 with a new power unit created to comply with the required rules for the year.
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