Alfa Romeo team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi admitted there is an underlying problem with its C43 hampering the team’s ability to compete in both qualifying and races.
The team, which is run by Sauber and will lose the backing of Alfa Romeo at the end of this year, will produce an all-new design for 2024.“We simply miss some performance during the race,” explained Alunni Bravi. “We need to investigate and to understand this, because this has been a recurring problem during this season, where we have been alternatively quick in qualifying and the race and vice versa
“So, this is part of the analysis that we need to do, and where we need to go through the car understanding for next season, because I don’t think that this situation will change if we are not able to fix, with proper technical solutions, this problem.”
“It’s not a matter of car balance, it’s the overall package that we need to improve,” he added. “We are lacking grip, especially in high-speed corners. This has been one of our weakness points this season.”
Both Alfa Romeo drivers failed to progress beyond Q1 in qualifying for last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, although Valtteri Bottas was able to reach the second round in qualifying for the sprint race. However he finished that race 19th, two places behind team mate Zhou Guanyu, and both drivers then retired from the grand prix with technical problems.
The Hinwil-based team is pinning it 2024 hopes on the contributions that can be made by returning technical director James Key. He previously held the role from 2010 to 2012, most recently worked for McLaren and is now busy working on Alfa Romeo’s car for next year.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“First of all, we are really happy about having James on board,” said Alunni Bravi. “He started the first week of September, so he’s also contributing to next year’s car, to our C44 car.
“We reviewed completely the project together with him. Thanks to his experience we went through an in-depth analysis of all the areas of the car, taking decisions.
“So next year’s car will not be an evolution of this year’s car, because we think that there are some limits in this concept that we cannot exploit further.
“We will really have as completely new car from chassis to suspension, everything, all the areas. Of course, it’s easy to identify the problems, but then you need to be able to fix it.
“So we are working hard, the group is growing. We have new appointments that are joining, and that will be able to contribute also to next year’s car but the answer will be given to all of us next year in Bahrain.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Brazilian Grand Prix
- Perez’s missed “open goal” in Miami was turning point in title fight – Horner
- F1 drivers insist new rules to prevent impeding in qualifying don’t work
- McLaren surprised by margin over rivals at track Norris thought would be “tough”
- “Follow Fernando’s line” – How Red Bull tried everything to get Perez past Alonso
- Mercedes’ Brazilian GP set-up was “conservative” after US GP disqualification
Stephen Taylor
8th November 2023, 17:29
Watch Sauber plummet off the back of the field next season then. He was useless at McLaren and deservedly got his P45 from there.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
8th November 2023, 22:57
The 2024 car is the C44 (I like how they’re still named after Frau Sauber) so maybe they’ll call the next one the P45…
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
9th November 2023, 9:10
Nah, Key is great, he just didn’t fire on all cylinders at McLaren. A lot of people don’t get on very well there.
Although, thinking more broadly, this has little to do with Key and much more to do with Audi putting “corporate pressure” on Sauber to perform better.
HK (@me4me)
8th November 2023, 17:43
Pretty unfair title to the article imo, discrediting the entire Sauber design team while Key merely did a review.
Dave
8th November 2023, 18:16
So this year they’re Alfa Romeo, next year they’re Sauber then in ‘26 they’re Audi??
stefano (@alfa145)
8th November 2023, 19:12
it appears to be like that
Dex
8th November 2023, 19:35
The crazier thing is that now Haas is the new Alfa Romeo, so there will still be cars with that name and livery. Obviously, they (Alfa Romeo and their owners) don’t think too highly of their targeted audience. But I see no reason why we should ever call any team after their sponsors. Officially they must. I don’t have to. For me this is Sauber even now, and Haas will remain Haas. I just want to keep my sanity.
Lewisham Milton
8th November 2023, 21:21
Don’t worry, you still won’t notice any of them during the race.
AlanD
9th November 2023, 0:20
Agree Dex, I don’t know how any team expects to build a fanbase when they sell their identity to title sponsors who are here today, gone tomorrow. Can you think of any other sport where teams can change their names on a whim to be a sponsor’s name? Can you imagine the outcry if Man United became Coca Cola United, or the NY Yankees became the JP Morgan Chase Yankees? I remember in Snooker that Jimmy White once changed his name by deedpooll to Jimmy Brown, to suit a sponsor, and it really did not go down well with his fans.
Does anyone know when this started. I rememebr when I was a kid that BRM (British Racing Motors) changed its name to Yardley BRM, Yardley being a company which made talculm powder for men, and painted its car in the black, white, and gold Y logo of Yardley. Around the same time, Lotus did the same thing with tobacco sponsorship, and I think there was a Gold Leaf Team Lotus, and then the John Player Special Team Lotus. I think that ust have been the start of the slippery slope.
F1sauber (@f1sauber)
9th November 2023, 3:40
Agree with all the above. I am a fan since was a little kid, i am passionate about F1, but it does bother me that Sauber changed into Alfa, and now Alfa leaves goes to Haas and then also i got annoyed when FIA allowed Alpha Tauri so we have two Alfa just the spelling slightly differently. In business you can’t start your company with the name of a direct competitor, why is it allowed in F1? I believe they need to add the main sponsor after the name of the company and stick with this guideline for all. We always called Ferrari, not Marlboro or Shell….
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
9th November 2023, 3:53
There certainly was. Jim Clark & Graham Hill teammates on those beautiful red and gold cars. Warwick Farm abt 1968. Along with Jochen Rindt, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Piers Courage , et al but memorably Pedro Rodriguez whose name was spelt on those white rectangles with black lettering on the sides of the cars, RODRIGUEZ on one side of the car and RODRIGUZ on the other!
Facts&Stats
9th November 2023, 7:10
The best example is cycling.
I guess that in team sports, the team that have home and away games, sell the naming rights to their home stadium.
If they don’t have a home stadium, because they are always ‘on the road’, they try to sell the naming rights to the team itself.
PS in Basketbalt leagues outside the (tightly controlled) NBA you also see teams adopting the name of their sponsor.
And it even happens in sports where it’s not allowed (e.g. RB Leipzig)
GeeMac (@geemac)
9th November 2023, 4:31
Well we had two teams called Lotus on the grid in 2011…
Todfod (@todfod)
9th November 2023, 8:25
Lol… That was ridicuous. I think the green one was renamed to Caterham before the start of the season, or did they stick with it? Can’t remember
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
9th November 2023, 10:55
Alfa Romeo have previous, at least with sponsorship. I remember getting confused by old early-80s races with these other red-and-white cars that looked like McLarens. That was the Alfas, in Marlboro colours. Couple of years later they were green and sponsored by Benetton. Nothing to do with the team Benetton bought after that (later called Renault, and Lotus, but I’m not going into that) – or Alboreto’s Tyrrell in Benetton colours.
Alfa also changed the team that ran its F1 cars (didn’t make the results any better though) – Autodelta and Euroracing, also involved in touring and sportscars for Alfa. But it remained an Alfa-owned proper works team, unlike today’s rebranded mess.
storm9
9th November 2023, 8:55
no, there was lotus renault f1 and team lotus on the grid, changed for next year to caterham
Abies de Wet
9th November 2023, 9:16
I’m sure Key learned a lot from his failures at McLaren…
Nick T.
9th November 2023, 12:29
Looks like he needs a key to the gym. Brown must have lost it first.