Alfa Romeo unveil dramatic new livery for 2022

Alfa Romeo have revealed images of the bold and striking red and white livery that will adorn their 2022 challenger – the C42.

The Swiss team ran a special camouflage design during three days of pre-season running in Barcelona, with Valtteri Bottas, rookie Zhou Guanyu and reserve Robert Kubica sharing driving duties.

A series of mechanical glitches confined the car to the garage for long periods, and they ultimately managed just 175 laps, putting them ninth out of 10 teams in the mileage charts.

READ MORE: Bottas hoping Alfa Romeo ‘can make up the time we lost’ after completing just 10 laps on final day of Barcelona running

On Sunday, they became the final squad to launch their season – showcasing a livery that they said is “a subtle nod to the past, recalling historical designs of years past and the heritage of Alfa Romeo and Sauber Motorsport” in what will be the Hinwil team’s 30th year in F1.

"The start of the season is always an exciting time, one in which we see the fruit of the work of hundreds of people over a long period of time,” said Team Principal Fred Vasseur.

“The C42 is a car we look forward to seeing racing, not just because it is the first we built in this new regulations cycle, one in which racing should be closer and more thrilling, but because we have the utmost confidence in this car helping the team make a big step forward towards the front of the grid.”

Technical Director Jan Monchaux added: “As we unveil the C42, it may feel like the start of a new season: we know, however, that this launch is just a milestone in a much longer journey in which our whole staff in Hinwil has invested so much time, resource and energies.

“Designing and building this car has been a huge undertaking and we can be proud of what we have achieved, but our work is not finished. As always in a new rules cycle, the development curve will be at its steepest this season and we need to continue extracting new performance out of the C42 to make the progress we have set as an objective for ourselves.”

READ MORE: The 5 key questions from 2022 pre-season running in Barcelona

Bottas, who joined from Mercedes and completed only 54 laps in Barcelona, said: “What is exciting is that we have no idea how that first race is going to pan out. Testing helped us confirm our expectations of where we stand, the progress we have made with the car, but now we are getting closer to the moment that really matters.

“Since I joined, I have seen so much motivation within this team: everyone is pushing a lot, trying to work harder than the others to be competitive, and that in turn gives me that extra boost when I am in the cockpit.”

Zhou, who finished third in F2 last year before stepping up to F1 with Alfa Romeo, said: “I am fully pumped up for the season and seeing the C42 in the livery in which I will race it definitely makes it real. We are at the beginning of a new era, with new cars and new regulations, and this creates an opportunity for all teams to make progress since we are all starting from scratch.

“Everyone at Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen has been incredibly helpful since I joined and seeing all the hard work, the commitment and motivation from everyone, in Hinwil and at the track, fills me with pride and excitement. I can’t wait to be on the grid with this car and work with my team to bring home the results we are targeting together.”

READ MORE: Zhou ‘proud’ as he makes pre-season running debut with Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo, along with their rival nine teams, will get the chance to gain more mileage with the new cars at the Official Pre-Season Test in Bahrain, which begins on March 10.