Alfa Romeo Racing boss Fred Vasseur declared himself satisfied after the team completed a shakedown of their new car on Thursday.
In what was a Valentine’s Day treat for Formula 1 fans, the 2019 contender took to Ferrari’s Fiorano test track with Kimi Raikkonen behind the wheel and a special livery covered in hearts and clovers.
Though it was revealed the start was delayed as second driver Antonio Giovinazzi brought the final parts from the airport, the ‘Iceman’ completed the full 100km of running allowed under the filming day regulations.
“We ran the 2019 car for the first time and were able to assess the progress we have made in our development ahead of the first tests in Barcelona next week,” Vasseur commented.
“The whole team is pushing to start the season with the best possible base. Our drivers and crew are motivated, and we look forward to heading into the championship and delivering a strong performance.”
When the first images of the new car were initially published, what struck many immediately was a radical new front wing design which to the untrained eye would appear to be unfinished.
However, on a week when most of the launches have been pretty short on details, it is now thought Alfa Romeo may actually have given the first look at what many cars will look like under the new regulations.
The aim was for the new front wing to be simpler and reduce the ‘outwash’ effect that creates a lot of turbulent air for the car behind thus making it hard to follow closely.
Now though, it seems designers are striking a balance between the generation of downforce and recreating that effect through other means in areas less critical.
The result is a substantial flattening of the upper wing elements to guide the air around the front tyre creating what appears to be the big gap to the endfence.
This approach was also seen on new images of the Toro Rosso published on Thursday, so it will fascinating to see what the top teams come up with next week in Spain.
