For the third GP in a row, Alfa Romeo didn’t score points: a goal missed in four of the six rounds held. Hinwil’s team is eighth in the Constructors’ championship standings and the performances of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are certainly not in line with the expectations of the Casa del Biscione.
In Monte Carlo the team led by Alessandro Alunni Bravi brought a substantial package of technical innovations: excluding those that had been designed to adapt the C43 to the city track of the Principality, we saw the appearance of those that would have debuted at Imola if the GP of Emilia Romagna had not been canceled due to the flood.
After a week, it will be interesting to understand in Barcelona what Alfa Romeo’s potential actually is: on a representative track like that of Montmelò, Jan Monchaux’s staff will be able to evaluate what the effective extent of the new developments might be: the surface has been redesigned with the ambition to improve the performance of the C43, just as the carbon covers of the push rod rear suspension have been modified. The function is obviously of an aerodynamic nature to direct the flows in order to increase the downforce and make the beam wing more efficient.
The image of Giorgio Piola captured in the Barcelona pits also shows the open rear corner which, without the baskets, highlights the new brake ducts and, above all, highlights the radiator packs which are sandwiched with as many as four overlapping elements, with a heat exchange suitable for cooling the Ferrari 066/7 power unit.
This shot highlights how the Cavallino matrix is fading and the Hinwil team is less and less a Ferrari customer team, to affirm over time a more deeply rooted technical autonomy in view of the transition from Alfa Romeo to Audi.
The C43, in fact, has its own gearbox and push rod rear suspension which is in contrast to Maranello’s choices. Even the configuration of the sloping bellies represents a tear with the orientation indicated by the Gestione Sportiva, while the trend has been followed slavishly by Haas.
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