Alfa Romeo was the first single-seater to hit the track among the single-seaters of the new ground effect era.
Valtteri Bottas on the Ferrari private track in Fiorano managed to complete the distance of 100 km allowed on the film day on Wednesday 16 February, although the Finnish driver was forced to a long pit stop of over three hours due to a mechanical problem that stopped the C42.
The technicians from Hinwil were able to find out what caused the hydraulic loss from the gearbox that blocked the transmission’s functionality.
If it is true that the gearing remained Ferrari, everything else was redesigned by the engineers directed by Jan Monchaux: the carbon box is of Alfa Romeo design because the rear suspension does not adopt the F1-75 pull rod scheme, but has introduced the push rod which requires the internal kinematics to be brought from the floor to the top, with the aim of freeing up space for the Venturi channels.
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42
Photo by: Davide Cavazza
Obviously this choice also required a redesign of the hydraulics that manage the gearbox and the Swiss team did well to take advantage of the shakedown with the C42 in camouflage version, because otherwise the trouble that revealed itself in Fiorano could have affected the first day of Barcelona pre-season test.
The Alfa Romeo technicians, therefore, had the time to deal with the hydraulic problem in the system designed by Sauber that caused the leakage of liquid. The Swiss team can look forward to the Spanish collective test session with greater serenity, where Guanyu Zhou will be able to make his debut on the C42, watching the more experienced Bottas at Fiorano.
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42
Photo by: Davide Cavazza
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