Alfa Romeo did not particularly impress in the Barcelona tests, although it left the drivers to understand a greater potential than what was seen at Montmelò.
Unlike Ferrari, the only team to exceed 2,000 kilometers covered in three days, the team from Hinwil totaled only 818.1 km, equal to a distance of less than one GP per day, while the Scuderia with the same power unit 066 / 7 has completed more than two races per session.
Alfa Romeo C42: problems identified
Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo C42
Photo by: Alfa Romeo
The C42 has only done better than Haas, another Ferrari customer team, gathering little information for development, but identifying the problems that need to be solved for the tests that will take place in Bahrain from Friday to Sunday.
What happened? Alfa Romeo was the victim of hopping and an extreme design choice: to focus on the car capable of reaching under the weight limit of 795 kg, in the knowledge that 10 kg on a track like Barcelona can be worth about three tenths of the time at the round.
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42, in Fiorano’s filming day
Photo by: Davide Cavazza
Already in the shakedown of Fiorano Valtteri Bottas had to deal with porpoising, the phenomenon that at high speeds generates a pumping in the rear end which causes the bottom to spread out on the asphalt causing inevitable damage.
The technicians directed by Jan Manchaux had focused on an ultra-light bottom, but the weight saved did not prove to be a great advantage, because as the hopping recurred, the most extensive and expensive part of the car was punctually recorded.
Alfa Romeo C42: the step is long
Alfa Romeo C42: the Swiss car has a long wheelbase of 3,595 mm
Photo by: Alfa Romeo
German sources had ensured that the C42 had been able to drop below the minimum weight of 795 kg because the car had the shortest wheelbase among the ten single-seaters in the paddock: according to the information in the possession of Motorsport.com, however, the wheelbase of the Swiss F1 is 3,595 mm, which is only 5 mm less than the maximum allowed by the technical regulations.
Alfa Romeo C42: the bottom too light
The weight gain, therefore, is not due to a shorter car, but to the precise choice of focusing on an incredibly light and also terribly fragile bottom. The Swiss engineers tried to go down a path that did not give the desired results, also because all the other teams asked the FIA to increase the minimum weight of the cars by 5 kg, resulting in overweight.
To combat porpoising, Alfa Romeo worked on various aspects of the C42: the suspension was raised by 30 mm, with a large loss of downforce, and the bottom was reinforced with carbon inserts to prevent it from continuing to yield. in the bellows on the asphalt.
Alfa Romeo C42, detail of the reinforced diffuser in the Barcelona tests
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The image of Giorgio Piola shows us the interventions that have been made for example in the rear extractor, leading some to believe that it was a brilliant blowing in the diffuser which, on the other hand, is forbidden. In Hinwil they are getting ready, but in Sakhir also the Swiss team will have a reinforced bottom that will take the C42 beyond the minimum weight …
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