A new floor for Alfa Romeo at Imola

It is one of the pleasant surprises of this early season. Like Haas, Alfa Romeo is experiencing a rebirth after difficult years and is finally able to consistently compete for the top 10. Well assisted by Valtteri Bottas, who has taken on the role of number one, the Swiss team has had three promising opening races. Rookie Guanyu Zhou is quickly adapting and scored his first point in his debut race. The first Chinese driver in the history of the discipline, along with his Finnish teammate, are emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the tightly contested midfield battle.

The synergy between the two drivers and the encouraging results are pushing Alfa Romeo to not ease off in terms of development. The team will bring its first improvements to the C42 this weekend, focusing on the floor, just like Alpine, according to the team principal Fred Vasseur.

« I am very happy with the team’s results in the first three races. I know that development starts at Imola and Barcelona, so we have to be there at the right time. We have some upgrades in the pipeline, like everyone else, but they need to work as expected. We will have a new piece on the floor, it will only be the floor this week. For now, everything looks OK, “Vasseur detailed to Autosport.

Bringing new parts to Imola is a risky gamble considering the sprint format of the weekend, which only offers one practice session for the teams. However, Fred Vasseur believes it is the right strategy and prefers to take action rather than waiting a little longer.

If you wait any longer, then it’s Miami, which is quite delicate. Then it’s Barcelona, which is good, followed by Monaco, Baku, and Montreal. There may be two different approaches among the teams. Is it easier to bring a big package of improvements every four races or to try introducing a new compound at each race?” questions the boss of Alfa Romeo.

We did it like this three years ago because we didn’t develop the car in the last two years. I think it was a success for us, and we will have the same approach. We will try to make improvements, maybe not at every race, but almost. We will have the first one at Imola, another one at Barcelona, and we will try to keep pushing and developing the car as long as we can, promises Fred Vasseur.

Alfa Romeo is currently in sixth place in the constructor’s standings with 13 points. This is already the same number of points as Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi scored throughout last season. The Swiss team can still aim for good results, perhaps even more so by regularly developing the C42.