Alfa Romeo Car Launch 2023
Last week we saw Alfa Romeo launch their bold new car, the C43, with a new black and red livery taking centre stage.
Why the change of colour?
You might be wondering how and why Formula 1 teams settle on their livery colours for the year. In the case of Alfa Romeo we saw the Swiss team ditch their red and white colour scheme of recent campaigns and opt for something a bit darker.
Alfa Romeo strip paint off of their livery leaving exposed carbon fibre as the black parts of the car.
The change of colour isn’t primarily because they prefer how it looks, by stripping off some of the paint work and leaving half of the car as exposed carbon fibre, they are cutting down the all important weight of their car. It may not seems that removing a few layers of paint will make much of a difference but with the teams massively struggling last year to stay within the weight limit, every gram counts.
On this trend, it is expected that Mercedes return to a full black livery for the coming season, similar to the one they ran in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Own a piece of F1 history?
Yes, that’s right, for the first time in F1 history, you can buy Alfa Romeo’s show car from the car launch! The car will be auctioned off on F1 Authentics and the highest bidder will also receive a signed chassis plaque by Bottas and Zhou, as well as the race suits they wore for the launch.
Want to own the C43 show car? Here is the link to the auction.
What changes have the team made to the car?
Besides the obvious change of colour, the team have been working hard over the winter to make serious changes to the car’s rear. Technical Director Jan Monchaux detailed the updates to the rear axis and suspension which also lead to changes to the gear box casing. These adjustments allowed the team to explore new layout options and develop the overall bodywork. Monchaux went on to explain that these changes were not possible last year and, due to the direction they took with the C42, the car’s development plateaued. However they are feeling more confident about their updates for the coming season and plan to continue work on the front of the car throughout the year.
What do you think of the C43? Will Alfa Romeo have a better season in 2023? Let us know in the comments below…