Alfa Romeo Racing C39 Explained

The Alfa Romeo Racing C39 is a Formula One car constructed by Alfa Romeo Racing to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, returning for their second year with the team.[1] Robert Kubica acted as the team's reserve driver.[2] The car was planned to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, but this was delayed when the race was cancelled and the next three events in Bahrain, Vietnam and China were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] [4] The C39 made its debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.

The chassis was designed by Jan Monchaux, Luca Furbatto, Lucia Conconi, Alessandro Cinelli and Nicolas Hennel with the car being powered with a customer Ferrari powertrain.

Competition history

Prior to pre season testing, Alfa Romeo painted the car in a "snake skin" livery. The car then went back to its competition livery for pre season testing. At the season opening 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen's right front tyre came off prompting retirement. Antonio Giovinazzi finished 9th, giving Alfa Romeo two points. At the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, Räikkönen finished in 11th place and Giovinazzi finished 14th, both 1 lap down. At the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, Räikkönen was too far forward at the start, rendering him out of position. He was given a five-second penalty for this during the race. The cars were the last two finishers, after qualifying on the back row. Although the car began the season at the back of the grid, it has gradually improved as the season has progressed,[5] including a 12th-place finish ahead of both works Ferraris by Räikkönen at the Belgian Grand Prix. As with the Ferrari SF1000, and fellow Ferrari engine customers Haas' entry, the VF-20, the car has been consistently hampered by a lack of power from its Ferrari engine[6] and thus has struggled to compete with other midfield teams, especially at power-dependent circuits. In most races, they race at the back of the grid with Haas and Williams.

Later use

A modified C39 was used during testing of the 2022 tyre compounds after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[7]

Complete Formula One results

(key)

YearEntrantPower unitTyresDriverGrands PrixPointsWCC
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLENFerrariAUTSTYHUNGBR70AESPBELITATUSRUSEIFPOREMITURBHRSKHABU88th
Antonio Giovinazzi
Kimi Räikkönen
Source:
Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the winner's race distance.

Notes and References

  1. News: F1 – 2020 Provisional Entry List . 30 November 2019 . . 30 November 2019.
  2. Web site: Alfa Romeo F1 team rebranded as Kubica joins in reserve role. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 1 January 2020. motorsport.com. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200101120120/https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alfa-romeo-kubica-orlen-reserve/4617950/ . 1 January 2020 . 2020-01-01.
  3. News: Confirmed: F1 cancelled at Australian Grand Prix. Mat. Coch. 13 March 2020. 13 March 2020.
  4. Web site: Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix postponed. 13 March 2020. formula1.com. en. live. 13 March 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200314152854/https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.bahrain-and-vietnam-grands-prix-postponed.6M04wEKPBevqVc6Mg2kfgH.html . 14 March 2020 .
  5. Web site: Alfa Romeo encouraged by 'more convincing' Barcelona performance . Formula 1 . Liberty Media . 14 September 2020.
  6. Web site: Ferrari explains loss in engine performance . ESPN . 17 July 2020 . ESPN . 14 September 2020.
  7. Web site: Somerfield. Matthew. 2021-12-15. The technology on show in Abu Dhabi F1 testing ahead of new-look 2022. live. 2021-12-16. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20211215154635/https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/test-f1-testing-photos-2022/6885090/ . 15 December 2021 .