Alfa Romeo’s new Formula 1 car for 2019 has appeared for the first time testing in a filming day at Fiorano.
The team has taken over from Sauber on the 2019 grid. It is not clear if they are running a special test design or the colours the team intends to race in.Kimi Raikkonen, who has joined the team from Ferrari, was the first to driver the new car.
“We had a good session on track,” he said. “The car felt good and I was able to get a first impression of the car we will be running this season.
“We will work on the last few details and head to Barcelona for two weeks of testing. I look forward to getting to know the car better there.”
[smr2018test]
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kpcart
14th February 2019, 12:48
Finally a 2019 car with something radical. The motorsport.com photo shows the front wing better, it looks crazy!
Travis Daye (@travis-daye)
14th February 2019, 13:05
My first thoughts too! A big hole where there should be some flaps!? I can’t imagine that Alfa have found a radical loophole without Ferrari exploiting it too! Would be quite hard to copy as it’s on the front wing too!
Joao (@johnmilk)
14th February 2019, 13:12
Not necessarily a loophole. But you got something wrong, if it is something where they can gain an advantage, it certainly is on the Ferrari as well, maybe even something that came out of the Ferrari and was implemented on the Alfa
Travis Daye (@travis-daye)
14th February 2019, 13:16
sorry if my wording was a little strange, but that is exactly what I meant
Joao (@johnmilk)
14th February 2019, 13:43
@travis-daye great minds think alike. The fools part is just a detail we are going to ignore
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
14th February 2019, 13:19
Very intrigued to see the Ferrari now!
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 13:57
I’d be surprised if this is their actual racing wing, but as others here have hinted I’ll also be surprised if the racing front wing of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo aren’t very very similar if not identical. They will share the same back ends from the driver back for the most part, so to create balance and make for an efficient car, their fronts will have to do similar things too. Unless of course Alfa will have a slightly different front wing as part of R&D for Ferrari, which I think is also very possible.
SteveR
14th February 2019, 15:34
Well, I hope they get it right. Looks like some serious understeer there…
Croft
14th February 2019, 14:34
Oooo….
thegamer23
14th February 2019, 12:52
The front wing is insane, there are some pictures around!
erikje
14th February 2019, 12:53
Testing?
Testing is not allowed so it must have been a “film day”.
kpcart
14th February 2019, 13:05
Yes, but everyone knows team test as much as they can during those film days. because of limited testing. And not every team films on those days.
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 13:46
Call it testing, a film day, or a shakedown, it doesn’t matter. They’re limited to a minimal amount of driving usually just by one driver, and it is just meant for promotion and for the teams to ensure the darn thing starts and runs. They aren’t doing setup work etc. They aren’t cranking anything up very high. They’re just making sure all systems are go. But ‘spied testing’ sure does get some people riled, lol.
Tornillo Amarillo
14th February 2019, 14:29
Yes.
Coanda (@ming-mong)
14th February 2019, 12:57
How does all this stuff get policed by the FIA? testing, wind tunnels etc… Ferrari/Merc could have secrete underground tunnels running 24/7 with 1:1 scales and who the hell would know?
Coanda (@ming-mong)
14th February 2019, 12:58
*secret – about time this site had an edit button
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th February 2019, 13:45
@ming-mong this sounds very stupid and I thought exactly the same thing this morning :D
Coanda (@ming-mong)
14th February 2019, 14:18
@m-bagattini why does it sound stupid?
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th February 2019, 15:14
@ming-mong well, I thought you were joking, didn’t want to sound rude. Anyway, tunnel boring is quite expensive and one can’t dig kilometers of tunnels without being noticed. Safety would be an issue, as well as the air quality, which is not comparable to the one you find outside.
I think the wind tunnel is better suited for this work.
Coanda (@ming-mong)
14th February 2019, 15:42
@m-bagattini – I think there has been a misinterpretation. I meant an underground wind tunnel facility. No need for boring out kilometers etc..
Coanda (@ming-mong)
14th February 2019, 15:46
also Mercedes must have wind tunnels for their road car development. How do the FIA know what gets tested in there? I’m sure they would run 1:1 scale models 24/7 somehow, somewhere…
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th February 2019, 15:53
@ming-mong LOL ok, makes sense!
socksolid (@socksolid)
14th February 2019, 16:38
You are joking about the tunnels but it has been done, see this:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/nascar/the-secrets-of-laurel-hill/
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
14th February 2019, 18:45
@ming-mong private test doesn’t mean the FIA isn’t monitoring it. And even so there are leaked pictures, they would be in deep trouble if it was illegal. All teams flirt with rules but I bet it’s far more subtile.
Todfod (@todfod)
14th February 2019, 13:00
Isn’t this illegal? It’s not a filming day.. And it’s been “spied” that a certain alfa Romeo is doing the rounds at Ferrari’s personal test track?
kpcart
14th February 2019, 13:08
I think they just didn’t announce it publicly. Red bull and Mercedes were at Silverstone yesterday, I don’t know if they announced it either, I think they called it a ‘shakedown’ and not filming day either.
erikje
14th February 2019, 14:24
They announced it and its called a filming day 100KM max.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
14th February 2019, 13:53
Filming day. The title is very misleading.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
14th February 2019, 13:01
They really using Louis Vuitton-ish pattern as livery?
Shaun Robinson (@)
14th February 2019, 13:47
Just for today. Will go back to last year’s livery (or similar) for races.
Xcm
14th February 2019, 19:27
Today is Valentine’s Day, hence the hearts…
I thought it was cool.
kpcart
14th February 2019, 13:03
Double stacked exhaust pipes! I am predicting after seeing this car that ferrari will have the most radical looking car in terms of aero.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
14th February 2019, 15:48
I thought the larger pipe was the engine exhaust and one of the smaller pipes was used to remove gases from the engine sump, so I’m not sure what the other smaller pipe is for.
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th February 2019, 17:28
@drycrust all F1 teams are running two, mandatory, wastegate outlet pipes, which officially need to have equal flow.
Now, the double stacked setup is speculated to have most flow through the top (with the lower one having an akward angle coming out of the wastegate to ensure that), probably to somehow blow the rear wing.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
14th February 2019, 22:40
@bosyber It seems teams / manufacturers are allowed to have one or two wastegate pipes (Rule 5.8.2 FIA Technical Regulations 2019). There has to be a sump breather pipe as well (Rule 5.1.12 FIA Technical Regulations, 2019).
Xcm
14th February 2019, 19:30
@drycrust
If you have no idea how a turbocharged engine works, why bother posting to “inform” others?
They’re waste gate exhausts…
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th February 2019, 13:04
It is a testing livery as far as other outlets are reporting
kpcart
14th February 2019, 13:09
I’d call it a one off livery like red bull yesterday.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th February 2019, 13:45
yes, that
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th February 2019, 17:29
Yep, and clever to mix 💕 and allfa 🍀 for a valentine-day run, it look quite good to me, for a one-off.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
14th February 2019, 13:22
I like that they kept Switzerland on the rear wing
AliceD (@aliced)
15th February 2019, 9:31
I was wondering why they would that seeing as motor racing is banned in Switzerland, but then I discovered it is not banned anymore.
Luke S (@joeypropane)
14th February 2019, 13:29
Be interesting to hear what Scarbs has to say about that front wing – can’t see why any team would have surface area that *could* have aero surfaces on it, not have them on it??
kpcart
14th February 2019, 13:40
Has to be for a reason, I hope it means performance, It is great in f1 when a loophole is found, like double decker diffuser, ground effects, fan car, unlimited boost turbo motors, and we have an unexpected winner. But sometimes things are within the rules and get banned… In the old days there was more scope for ingenuity, but now it is very hard to build outside of set peramiters, and money (devopment) wins.
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 13:50
I wouldn’t assume that this is their official front wing design.
kpcart
14th February 2019, 14:39
No, but it is so out of left
Field that it is likely to be, why waste a 100km shakedown with something irrelevant?
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 15:08
@kpcart Even if this is their official racing wing (which of course will vary depending on the track, and will evolve throughout the season) a 100km shakedown is not a performance test. If they are only driving at 80% and only briefly, of what they will be doing in Australia, then that will not nearly be fast enough to truly confirm from their simulators how well that wing is doing in reality. Nor would their be time to make adjustments front and back to experiment. I’m assuming, and I think accurately, that nobody is putting their brand new cars on the filming day pavement, wherever that may be, and cranking it right up to racing-in-anger levels. There is very little they can glean from an aero standpoint on these days. What they can do is confirm everything is working and all the computers in the car and on the steering wheel and in the garage and at their satellite locations are talking back and forth to each other and accurately so. Is everything on the steering wheel working. Is the driver comfortable. That sort of stuff. Are they even on official race tires such that the car is actually feeling like it will in a race? Tires at race temps? No, nothing at these shakedowns would teach them anything about their new front wing.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
14th February 2019, 14:35
Yes. It looks like they tried to keep the outwash with wider wing.
Tom Eslick (@veryoldf1fan)
14th February 2019, 22:06
Interesting to see the new Alfa with anhedral on its front wing.
I could never understand why Formulae 1 car designers didn’t apply anhedral to either their front and/or rear wings. Anhedral on negative lift surfaces, e.g. F1 wings, would apply small amounts of anti-roll forces. Although the anti-roll effect would be relatively small, it could well have a positive affect on cornering performance. Hence a possible additional reason why Alf-Romeo (and maybe Ferrari too!) went the way they did.
Pedro Andrade
14th February 2019, 13:41
This livery looks awesome! Lets hope it’s not just a testing livery.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th February 2019, 13:46
Cool-looking livery, I wish it’d stay.
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 13:51
Same here. Love that livery.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
14th February 2019, 13:52
Misleading title. Sounds a lot more clandestine (i.e. illegal) than it was.
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 14:07
Lol for sure. Technically ‘spied’ just means seen, and ‘testing’ just means making sure the thing starts and runs and the systems are all working together. Which is all that is happening.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th February 2019, 13:53
The car looks pretty radical. The front wing, the nose with like 5 air inlets, sidepods, the top airscope, the missing shark fin… it’s simply completely different from all we have seen until now.
But we have to consider what we actually have seen: more than one team just showcased the new livery, not the car. And even those who showed the car, including Mercedes and RedBull, have a long story of using placeholder bits in critical areas, especially the with the front wing.
Anyway, I really hope we’ll see something different on track this year. Don’t know if it will work, but Alfa looks on the right direction for a change; it is very difficult to imagine extreme changes in the standings without extreme changes in the cars.
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th February 2019, 17:37
Though the nose really seems like an amalgamation of the McLaren and sauber noses from 2018,and the air ox treatment is like last year @m-bagattini
That front wing is, in concept, similar to what Renault (rendering) and Toro Rosso (the on track filming footage) went with, but much more extreme. Interesting!
Red Bull, McLaren and Toro Rosso also went with more cooling behind the airbox, seems like one of the current trends to decrease sidepod size.
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th February 2019, 18:24
Ox treatment? Airbox treatment was what I wanted to say,lol,they are not fat like an ox.
Zachary (@daytek)
14th February 2019, 13:54
Would the wing be like that as to not give away design details before testing? Hard to believe they’ll just give away all that space that could be used for downforce, unless this helps with
creating out washing?
Shaun Robinson (@)
14th February 2019, 16:41
This is the design concept. Instead of forcing the air around the wheels it tries manipulate the air inside of the wheels. My source inside Alfa is dubious whether it will work. But I can confirm this is what they’ll be using in testing (and onto Melbourne if they’re happy with it).
Dave F. (@dave-f)
15th February 2019, 17:30
@robinsonf1 Hmm…. it’s trying to get as much air around the outside. Little need for downforce & vortex generators are banned in that area, so leave it (almost) empty.
I wonder if your ‘source’ is related to my imaginary friend & the fairies at the bottom of my garden?
chupamelachota
14th February 2019, 13:54
my god my eyes!!! what an ugly car!!
f1fan1992 (@f1fan1992)
14th February 2019, 13:55
So, is Alfa new team (entrant, constructor) or is it just a renamed Sauber?
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 14:01
Renamed Sauber. Notice in all the captions for the pictures of Kimi it says Sauber.
f1fan1992 (@f1fan1992)
14th February 2019, 19:04
Thank you! I just wanted to clear that for myself.
f1fan1992 (@f1fan1992)
14th February 2019, 13:57
Nice livery!
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
14th February 2019, 14:02
Can we maybe dream for a moment or two about some more Kimi-Lotus magic happening?
Robbie (@robbie)
14th February 2019, 14:10
Yes. Given the level this car is now to being a B Ferrari, I think Kimi can and will be mixing it up big time.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
14th February 2019, 14:36
Just putting aside reality completely for a moment, imagine if he was to repeat the feat of putting himself in 3rd like 2012, how different it would be appreciated to his 2018 season
kpcart
14th February 2019, 14:43
Kimi was avareage in 2012 and 2018. I don’t get what you are trying to say.
kpcart
14th February 2019, 14:41
Kimi lotus under performed. If kubica didn’t have his crash, he would have achieved far more than Kimi. Kimis best years were 2003-2006
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
14th February 2019, 14:49
Yes, of course, they built an absolute worldbeater on a shoestring budget that didn’t even suffice to pay their lead driver a (for his standards) moderate salary
Ivan Papalezov (@cordoba16vt)
14th February 2019, 15:12
Kimi managed some good results in 2012/2013 with 1 pitstop strategy , while the rest of the pack were on 2 pitstop. Never underestimate any WC. Most of his second stint in Ferrari strategy has been a function of first driver, we have seen this in 2017/2018 quite a lot.
stefano (@alfa145)
14th February 2019, 20:40
You wouldn’t know anyway, since Kubica said that he was due to drive for Ferrari in 2012
MaliceCooper
14th February 2019, 14:12
It looks like a smoking jacket. I see what they did there.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
14th February 2019, 14:38
Smoking is pretty cool alright. Might give it a try!
Hakk the Rack
14th February 2019, 14:55
Is that a valentine’s day livery only?
kpcart
14th February 2019, 15:01
Yep
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
14th February 2019, 15:08
My guess on the front wing is (to be corrected later by Scarbs!) that with the large upright panels on either side of the front wing the yaw effect in turning doesn’t require the edges of the four upper wings. For example see this image.. Kimi turning the edges of the wings are covered by both large uprights.
Then perhaps in a straight line the edges of these wings only served to guide air over the wheels and perhaps no wings proved faster with minimal effect to downforce.
That’s a complete guess, interested to see what the experts think..
SuperSenna
14th February 2019, 17:21
Might reduce drag as well, right?
Stu
14th February 2019, 15:10
Love the car! Looks awesome! Please keep the livery Alfa!
Niefer (@niefer)
14th February 2019, 15:31
Loved that car already!
I hope the official livery will be charming as that one.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
14th February 2019, 16:28
Given that Alfa Romeo is a Ferrari B as it seems, I wouldn’t find it surprising if Ferrari comes off with such a bold front wing as well. Great car as it seems and what a livery. It is an one off thing but damn.
Luke (@lukes)
14th February 2019, 17:14
Sorry to be a kill joy and I know we are all very excited but I suspect that they are just doing a systems shake down and because they knew there would be photographers they have just removed some elements from the wing that they don’t want photographed!
Matt (@hollidog)
15th February 2019, 9:15
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a dummy front wing from the parts bin at Ferrari, they are at Fiorano after all
Christopher (@twiinzspeed)
14th February 2019, 19:25
By far my favorite livery of the year….so far. I know it may be just a test livery, but I sure hope not. The nose and front wing are a substantial change to others on the grid. I find it a bit odd that they can achieve enough downforce with the missing surface area. Unless the change improves the flow around the tires (outwash) and it may also allow a better flow to the underside diffuser. If it’s for real, and not just a test hide like someone suggested, I wonder if the Ferrari will have something similar. I love when teams comeup with something new and different to everyone else. Sometimes it works , IE Ferrari and the exposed / raised side pods, and other times its a big fail. Only time will tell. I can’t wait for testing to start!!!!