Alfa Romeo reveals the new C42 colours

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This is the final Formula 1 team reveal as Alfa Romeo showed off their new 2022 livery for the upcoming championship, following the C42’s first extended on-track outing in testing earlier.

Alfa Romeo announced earlier this month that it would be formally launching its car after the first three-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, making it the last on the grid to hold an official unveiling.

Drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou took part in testing previously using a black-and-white camouflage livery, but the final design for this year’s car has now been revealed.

The team retains the traditional colours of the Alfa Romeo brand for this season, but has switched from a majority white livery to a chiefly red design.

The majority of the nose, the bulkhead and the halo have all turned red on this year’s car, while the engine cover also turns red, with the addition of ‘Alfa Romeo’ written in an old-fashioned font.

The livery was created by Alfa Rome’s Centro Stile design centre. According to the team, it is “a stunning yet subtle nod to the past, recalling historical designs of years past and the heritage of Alfa Romeo and Sauber Motorsport, in the Hinwil team’s 30th year in Formula 1.”

“The start of the season is always an exciting time, one in which we see the fruit of the work of hundreds of people over a long period of time,” said team principal Frederic Vasseur.

“The C42 is a car we look forward to seeing racing, not just because it is the first we built in this new regulations cycle, one in which racing should be closer and more thrilling, but because we have the utmost confidence in this car helping the team make a big step forward towards the front of the grid.”

The official launch of the C42 car comes after a difficult outing for Alfa Romeo in Barcelona, where it slumped towards the rear of the lap distance charts.

The three days of running were interrupted by a number of issues, limiting the team to just 175 laps between Bottas, Zhou and reserve driver Robert Kubica. Only Haas completed fewer laps during the test.

Bottas joined the team from Mercedes for the 2022 season, and said earlier this week that he was enjoying his early days with Alfa Romeo despite only managing 54 laps in the first test.

“The size of the team is quite a bit smaller, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing, and at least so far I’ve been enjoying it,” Bottas said.

“There are so many new people and new things to get used to and learn, and still I would say I am in the adaptation phase of actually getting properly to know the team and how everything works. But that’s part of learning.

“I would say it’s been a pretty quick process getting used to it. But there are good vibes. I’ve been really, really enjoying it, and with a bit more track time, I would be even happier, but at least it’s been fun.”

The Alfa Romeo C42 will make its next on-track appearance in the second pre-season test, which takes place in Bahrain from March 10-12, before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20.

3 thoughts to “Alfa Romeo reveals the new C42 colours”

  3. ‘I can be the best version of myself’ at Alfa Romeo says Bottas, as team unveil 2022 colours. Formula1.com article.

    After five years of trying to match one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has spoken of his belief that his 2022 move to Alfa Romeo will allow him to become the “best version” of himself.

    Bottas drove alongside Lewis Hamilton for every season of his tenure with Mercedes, watching as the Briton claimed four out of the five drivers’ championships in that time – and 50 wins in the same period to Bottas’ 10.

    And speaking at the unveiling of the Alfa Romeo team’s 2022 colours for its C42 challenger, Bottas spoke of his belief that his new environment would bring out the best in him.

    “I am excited,” said Bottas. “It’s a new challenge for me, it’s a new project in a way and you need a certain mindset for it. And I’m absolutely ready for that at this stage of my career, where I’ve already gained quite a bit of experience.

    “I absolutely feel that I have so much more to do to get better and so much more to give to this sport,” he added. “As a driver, I think you never stop learning, as long as you want to. So of course, I’m always looking at areas that I can be better, and it truly feels like now I can just be the best version of myself instead of trying to be something else and trying too hard.

    “But in the end, it’s going to be a team effort and I don’t see me as the only leader of the team. We’re in this together – that’s the feeling.”

    Optimistic though he may have been, Bottas’s start to pre-season running with Alfa Romeo did not go according to plan, the Finn achieving just 54 laps across three days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (team mate Zhou Guanyu managing 112, with Alfa reserve Robert Kubica taking only nine), as Alfa Romeo struggled with both porpoising and various mechanical gremlins.

    But despite that, the Finn said the team’s C42 “definitely” had potential, as the team now regroup ahead of the Official Pre-Season Test at Bahrain on March 10-12.

    “I’ve got some kind of feeling of course,” said Bottas of the car’s performance. “The nice feeling is that I definitely feel that there is potential. There’s some strong areas in the car in certain type of corners.

    “But also of course immediately, points to work on, with the balance, with some of the behaviour. But nothing that we shouldn’t be able to fix. It feels like we’re still in the very early stages of actually discovering the car.

    “For me, it was quite limited running that we had,” added Bottas. “Only with two different [tyre] compounds, only with very few set-up changes, so there’s still so much more to discover. That’s what I’m really aiming to do in the test and get a better understanding in Bahrain.

    “There’s work to do – I’m not saying anything against that – but also I feel there is potential in this package, and I’m looking forward to discovering more about it with the team.”

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