After nine rounds of the season, the Alfa Romeo team is sixth in the constructors’ championship, but could clearly have more points than 51 as it is now, if not reliability issues. The Swiss team could at least have been on the 5th line ahead of Alpine at this stage of the championship, but it already had four dropouts for technical reasons and in three cases Formula 1 debutant Guanyu Zhou was unable to reach the finish.
“Some reliability issues were due to our appearance, others were Ferrari’s,” said Alfa Romeo CEO Frederic Vasseur. “But I’m absolutely sure that Maranello can solve everything, so I don’t want to stop there.
Speaking of what depends on us, it all started with pre-season testing in Barcelona, when the monocoque was damaged by strong build-up. It was not possible to repair it on site, so we lost time. After that, the problems grew like a snowball: we were in too much of a hurry to get back to normal work, but the difficulties kept getting bigger. They mainly affected Zhou and the problems occurred during the races. †
The costs of getting the equipment in order were not planned and the team’s budget was not unlimited, so they had to forgo preparing an improved version of the front wing, although it was originally due to be presented at Silverstone. And yet the team is not complaining about the budget now.
“We have equipment of the highest standard,” Vasser said. “But when BMW parted ways with Sauber (at the end of 2009), the company went through difficult times, and this continued until 2016 or 2017. Investments were at a minimal level. Outwardly, the equipment looked good, but it was worth taking a closer look and it became clear that it was no longer so brilliant. That’s why we’ve spent three or four years upgrading the infrastructure of the Hinwil base, and a lot of money has been invested in that time.
We have made progress in all areas, including equipping a new simulator and updating the software used in wind tunnel research. I think we are now at the level of modern Formula 1 and this is one of the reasons that explains our results this year.
We understood that the transition to the new technical regulations and limited budgets would open up opportunities for us. But the top teams have developed cutting edge technology on tight budgets, so the edge is still on their side – and likely will be for the next two or three seasons. But we’re more used to working with modest budgets, so if we’re talking about the medium term, I’m quite optimistic.
At the same time, if we want to be efficient, we have to decide which components of the C42 to use in the construction of next year’s car. There are several options, they have to do with the cooling system, suspension, etc. That’s the fate of engineers – they want to reinvent the wheel every year! However, to be effective, to provide a budget for the modernization of the machine in 2023, some existing developments will have to be applied. †
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
