During the first runs in Barcelona, the new team drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were using a black-and-white camouflage livery, but the final design of the C42 has been finally revealed on Sunday morning.

New team driver Valtteri Bottas believes the new car is a real beauty.

“For me it’s love at first sight, it is a special feeling you know. When I first saw the car in real life I felt really proud to be representing these colors this season”.

New colours 😍#VB77 #F1 #AlfaRomeo #C42@alfa_romeo @alfaromeoorlen pic.twitter.com/41tubJnrkk

— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) February 27, 2022

2022 represents the beginning of a new chapter for the team, with a completely new drivers line up and a car developed under new technical regulations.

“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.

“This year is particularly special because we have new drivers but also because the C42 is the first car we have developed under a cost cap and new technical rules”.

“It is a new chapter for the team but also for Formula One as a whole, we’re really entering a new era.

“The C42 s 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,” concluded Alfa Romeo ORLEAN team boss.

Teams, engineers and designers have been working on the new regulations for the past three years. Finally seeing the results of their work in real life feels like the coronation of a dream, “a huge content”.

“We only stopped in 2020 because of COVID but the last 15 months have been extremely intense,” said Jan Monchaux, Technical Director of the team, “500 plus people working on the project have delivered an amazing result. I’m quite excited for the start of the season to see where will be standing”.

Jan Monchaux has been working in Formula One for more than twenty years, yet this time is even more special as he recounts:

“As an engineer, every year the new car feels like the nicest car. But this year I am particularly proud. More because of the challenges that we had to face. The C42 is the result of the biggest regulation change I can remember in F1.

 “Knowing the amount of work that has been going on behind the scenes, it makes me very proud to see the final result on track”

The three-day shakedown in Barcelona showed some pretty different interpretations of the new regulations, with some cars having very peculiar wings designs. This, however, has not come as a surprise to Monchaux.

“The rules are very prescriptive in certain areas like the front and rear wings design, but it is not a surprise to see different interpretations.

 “It is quite interesting to see what our competitors have come up with. We will for sure be looking very closely to certain solutions,” he concluded.

Love at first sight. ♥️🖤 #C42 pic.twitter.com/Q1IDWlr3AZ

— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) February 27, 2022

Although it was a pretty limited time to draw conclusions, after the first testing of the season, the team has already identified a few areas of improvement.

According to the Finnish Valtteri Bottas, the biggest improvements will come progressively throughout the season as the team and the drivers will discover more about the car itself and the new tyres.

“If I compare to previous years, I feel like you can follow the car a bit closer but we will see in the first race if it is actually the case and if it will allow for more wheel-to-wheel action.

“Given the limited mileage we had, the biggest improvements will come step by step. First we need to really understand and get to know the car. We’re still learning about the new tyres so it will be a matter of small details here and there”

One of the main differences between the new cars and the old generation is the ground effect. As a consequence, a potentially negative side effect is continuous bouncing, especially on the straights.

“As far as we could see, this is definitely a challenge for every team,” commented Bottas.

“For now I don’t think it will turn out to be a safety issue. I think it is more the result of how the aero of the car works. Obviously it is a fact that the lower you go with the car, the more you have downforce.

 “I don’t think it will become a major issue but as a team we will have to find a way around it to limit excessive bumping and make sure the car is reliable enough,” concluded the driver.

The same opinion is shared by the team’s Technical Director who commented:

“We spoke about bouncing a lot in the last few days but it is always the case with new regulations. You have new issues coming in, but I’m sure in a few races no one will be talking about it

 “We have to fix it of course, so we’ll try to come next week with a slightly improved configuration so we can fix it completely,” he concluded.