Alfa Romeo, at the level ofAlpine and Company ?

Discreetly, without making big waves, Alfa Romeo completed the winter tests with several reasons for satisfaction. The Italian-Swiss team achieved great performances with the C43, including the 3rd absolute time in Valtteri Bottas SATURDAY. A time to be taken with a grain of salt, since the Finn achieved it with the softest rubber, the C5 tires. However, the structure based in Hinwil (Switzerland) assures that it did not seek performance during the three days of testing. “Performance was not yet our main goal: we did not focus on what others were doing, but we focused on ourselves”, confides Jan Monchaux, technical director of the team.

If the team of Andreas Seidl and Alessandro Alunni Bravi acknowledges that they still have work to do ahead of the first Bahrain Grand Prix, they are satisfied with their running with the new C43. The only downside: reliability, which Valtteri Bottas lacked on Saturday morning. Alfa Romeo made up for it in the afternoon, bringing its total to 402 laps completed over the three days. Enough to satisfy the Finnish pilot. “The car felt good, and I think the feeling in the cockpit has improved over the winter. We did a lot of laps today, despite a technical problem which caused us to lose time. Thanks to the work of our mechanics, I was able to get back on the track fairly quickly and complete the entire program that we had set for this last day. »

Optimism displayed at Alfa Romeo

Same story for his teammate, Guanyu-Zhou. The Chinese sophomore, who set the best time on Friday, refuses to get excited following these winter tests, but assumes his optimism for this season. “We are well aware that this is testing, of course, and everyone is trying different settings, but it's nice to see my name and that of the team at the top of the timesheet, laughed Zhou. We did more miles and we achieved all the goals and tasks we set for ourselves, so I can say I'm happy. The car felt good, both in day and night conditions, and I felt more confident pushing as the day progressed. »

The question that now arises is: what should we expect from Alfa Romeo this season? The Italian-Swiss team, in difficulty at the end of last season despite a 6th place among the constructors saved at the last minute, seems to have designed a car capable of titillating Alpine et McLaren. Obviously, we will not dare to create a hierarchy following the winter tests, but Alfa Romeo has placed its pawns...

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