Alfa Romeo will prioritise taking full advantage of the opportunity offered by new regulations for 2022 F1 season, the team’s technical director said as they launched an updated car for the coming championship.
A drastic overhaul of F1’s technical regulations was planned for this season but delayed until 2022 due to the pandemic. Monchaux said the team is determined to take advantage of the opportunity those regulations present next year, while going into the new season with an evolution of their previous car.“Our focus is on 2022, which is going to be a complete revolution,” said Monchaux. “We will have a completely different car and this represents a great opportunity to make a leap forward, closer to the front of the grid.
“It is no secret that we are going to give development preference to the 2022 car during this year. The less we put on the 2021 car, the more we can put on the 2022 car, especially with the budget cap in place.”
This year, for the first time, teams must adhere to a cap on their budgets. However Monchaux believes its effects will not become apparent until next year when teams compete with cars which have been designed under the new restrictions.
“I don’t think any effect of the budget cap on the teams’ competitiveness will be evident in 2021,” he said. “The budget cap is only being introduced for this season, when the 2021 cars were already completed. There will be in-season development, of course, but with the regulations remaining stable from last year I don’t expect any overhaul beyond some minor changes in the pecking order.
“We will start to see some more impact from 2022, when all the teams will have the same budget ceiling to develop the car. I think this will result in the gaps in performance being reduced, although the full effect of the new regulations will take a few years to become apparent. Large teams not only have the money and the people to give them an edge, but also a technological advantage they benefit from, and the effect of this will take a few years to fade.
“Also, we should not forget that the budget cap doesn’t cover the power unit, the heart of the car, which will still be a large differentiator and therefore an advantage for the best in the class. Overall, though, I am confident that within two or three years gaps will be reduced.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2021 F1 season
- Verdict on error in GT race suggests Mercedes would have lost 2021 Abu Dhabi GP appeal
- Title ‘stolen’ from Mercedes made us ‘underdogs people cheer for’ – Wolff
- Red Bull Racing spent £230m during Verstappen’s title-winning 2021 campaign
- ‘I can’t box?’: Hamilton and Verstappen’s 2021 Abu Dhabi GP radio transcript
- Abu Dhabi’s legacy one year on: How the controversial 2021 finale changed F1
BasCB (@bascb)
22nd February 2021, 19:56
Just imagine both Alfa Romeo (or whatever they will be called by that time) and Williams actually managing to step up and improve. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a really close grid!
MacLeod (@macleod)
23rd February 2021, 8:04
I think Williams is moving forward problem is the other teams are also improving (exception Haas) so it’s how much improved are they. I was watching brasil 2017 and Williams were still above the midfield the drop they had in 2018/2019 is ridiculious.
George
22nd February 2021, 21:42
If every team has the same approach of allocating all their development for next year, then the status quo will possibly remain, but for a couple of teams swapping positions etc.
Theres no way Alfa is going to leap to 3-5 with the new regs over a whole season anyawy.
Then for 2021 theyll remain at the back as theres no further development on the car for 2021 like everyone else.
It would be refreshing to see a strong a team like Williams or Alfa develop the car aggressively for 2021 while all others are standing still for 2022 and have a season of moderate success, instead of two seasons at the back.
Napier Railton (@napierrailton)
22nd February 2021, 22:33
I’ve heard from a lot of teams that they are “focussing” on the regulation changes for 2022.
In 2009 when there was the last aero overhaul, Brawn (Honda) got the jump on everyone because they were putting all their focus into the 2009 car way before everyone else.
If everyone is focussing on 2022, we could end up with an anti-Brawn effect, where lots of teams have been deveoping their car for a long time, and a few team will be left behind.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
23rd February 2021, 2:30
Look af mclaren, they saved a token by introducing the 2021 nose late last season. Alfa will have a new ferrari pu yet they can’t change the cooling as they spent that token on the nose. I think this is Alfa’s way of saying they are doing their best to survive
MacLeod (@macleod)
23rd February 2021, 8:09
While i think McLaren will improve i don’t think they will be higher then nr.3 (last year they were nr.4 but the nr.3 got a penaulty) as they have spend there tokens for the engine refit. Alfa doesn’t have this problem as the new engine is a evolution of the one they already know.
Like the new Honda engine the engine got a new repacking which making the engine smaller so aero side Alfa doesn’t need to change anything so doesn’t need to spend a token.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
23rd February 2021, 10:58
Last paragraph says it all. Nice-looking car but same underpowered story.
Their only chance is if Kimi can find his way to the front just before a safety car/red flag – but it’s nearly the end of the race so he isn’t swamped by the whole field!
JimG (@jimg)
23rd February 2021, 10:58
Who is “Monchaux”?