Daily Times

WARSAW: Alfa Romeo has unveiled its car for the 2021 Formula One season. 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will partner Italy’s Antonio Giovinazzi at the team for a third season. Alfa Romeo, known as Sauber until 2019, launched the new car, dubbed the C41, in Poland with title sponsor PKN Orlen on Monday. Alfa is looking to improve on an eighth-placed finish in 2020. The team has retained its red-and-white scheme of previous seasons, albeit with the colour scheme inverted on the C41. Alfa Romeo has used its development tokens on a new nose and front crash structure, which are the biggest two changes from last year’s car. The rear of the car is largely unchanged, with the same gearbox and rear suspension as last year, but the team has redesigned the floor and diffuser to comply with new regulations aimed at cutting downforce.

“Our 2021 car shares a lot of common parts with [last year’s] C39, with the exception of those which the regulations forced us to change — such as the floor — and the nosecone, in which we invested our two development tokens,” technical director Jan Monchaux said. “This means we will know the car much better than usual when we get to testing, but it’s still going to be crucial to make the most of those three days to verify that reality matches our expectations and to get to know the new tyres. We are ready for the new season and we can’t wait to see our new car on track.” The C41 will make its on-track debut at a private event at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Friday before taking part in preseason testing between March 12-14 at the Bahrain International Circuit.