We’ll start with the livery, as it is dramatically different to last year’s car. Going all black and red – with a lot of black indeed – it’s tough not to draw comparisons to Ferrari given the similar all-black splitter and sides of the nose. If not the F1 75, it shares that layout with the 643 of 1991.
Rearwards of the front suspension it does get a bit more ‘Alfa’ as the black bleeds up and over the car, across the central air intake, with the red continuing to the rest of the rear of the car. Red highlighted wheels are a nice contrast and in the place of last year’s title sponsor Orlen, comes Stake, after Orlen’s transfer to Alpha Tauri for 2023.
Technically speaking at the front we can note a revised bat wing-like splitter and suspension mounting points, while the slimmer side pods feature a new slim line of cooling vents, twinned with another wider pair of slashed areas atop the engine cover.
The floor is especially interesting, with dramatically feathered edges ahead of the rear wheels. The top inlet appears revised too, with two stages feeding both the engine inlet and cooling needs. It’ll also have received revisions in terms of safety and strength, following Zhou Guanyu’s dramatic accident at Silverstone last year. The rear end is nicely cannon-flared, to get all that heat out efficiently.