Alfa Romeo Racing C38
The Alfa Romeo Racing C38 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Alfa Romeo Racing to compete during the 2019 Formula One World Championship. It is the first Sauber-engineered car to be badged Alfa Romeo following a team renaming deal struck with Sauber Motorsport AG in February 2019. It was Alfa Romeo's first season as a F1 team since 1985. The car was driven by Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and made its debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. The car finished 8th in the Constructors' Championship with 57 points, 43 for Räikkönen and 14 for Giovinazzi.
The chassis was designed by Simone Resta, Luca Furbatto, Ian Wright, Jan Monchaux and Nicolas Hennel with the car being powered with a customer Ferrari powertrain.
Technical details
The C38's engine is a 1600cc V6 engine, with a single turbocharger. The Energy Recovery System is accumulated into a battery pack and deployed via a 120 kW electric motor. The C38 has an 8-speed gearbox, 6-piston Brembo brake callipers, and carbon-composite discs and pads from Carbon Industries. The chassis is a carbon-composite monocoque; the front suspension has double wishbones, with inboard spring and damper units actuated by push-rods; the rear suspension is Multilink, with inboard spring and damper elements actuated by pull-rods. The C38 has OZ wheels and Pirelli tyres.Competition history
Opening rounds
At the opening race in Australia, Räikkönen and Giovinazzi qualified 9th and 14th respectively. Giovinazzi would go on to finish 15th, whilst Räikkönen finished 8th, scoring Alfa Romeo's first points in Formula One since the 1984 European Grand Prix. Räikkönen went on to score three more consecutive points finishes, including 7th in Bahrain and 9th in China. In Azerbaijan, Räikkönen's car failed a front wing deflection test, excluding him from qualifying and forcing him to start the race from the pit lane. An impressive recovery drive saw him finish 10th.European and Canadian rounds
A brief dip in fortunes followed as the team failed to score points in the next three races, the best finish being 13th place for Giovinazzi in Canada. A particularly poor showing came in Monaco, after Giovinazzi was penalised for causing a collision and would go on to finish the race in 19th place, whilst Räikkönen could only salvage 17th.The C38 returned to form in France where Räikkönen recorded another 7th-place finish, albeit with Giovinazzi a lowly 16th. The car achieved its first double points-finish of the season in Austria, where Räikkönen and Giovinazzi finished 9th and 10th respectively. This also marked the first point of Giovinazzi's Formula One career. The C38's first retirement of the season came at the following race in Britain, where Giovinazzi spun into a gravel trap after suffering a mechanical failure whilst running in 9th place. Räikkönen went on to score another points-finish with 8th place. At the German Grand Prix, the team recorded their best grid position of the season with Räikkönen qualifying 5th. During the rain-affected race, the C38 achieved its best combined finish of the season thus far when Räikkönen and Giovinazzi finished 7th and 8th respectively. However, after the race, the stewards found that the team had used a type of traction control during the race start, providing the drivers with an illegal advantage in the wet conditions. Both drivers were issued with 30-second time penalties, demoting them to 12th and 13th. Alfa Romeo later appealed the decision, however this appeal was rejected.
In Hungary, Giovinazzi started 17th after receiving a grid penalty for impeding another driver in qualifying. He failed to recover during the race and finished 18th, meanwhile Räikkönen scored another points-finish with 7th place.