Since it is well anchored in this extremely narrow midfield, any small pace advantage that the rivals gained with their current cars risked moving the Hinwil company down the order.
In fact, it was perhaps a more difficult year than expected for Alfa’s bosses, as most of the starting line-up at the start of the campaign brought with it at least some important developments
Because despite the great pace progress – the reduction of the lead in the total lap time – this was not reflected in a larger point deduction.
And with Williams benefiting the most from the Hungarian GP chaos, scooping 10 valuable points, Alfa Romeo seems to come home in ninth place this year knowing it won’t bring any more upgrades to its challenger.
Although now pretty much in no man’s land – without Haas behind in pace and points – and too far behind Aston Martin and maybe even Williams in front, Alfa team boss Fred Vasseur regrets absolutely nothing.
Of course there is frustration with his competitive chances – as Kimi Raikkonen said on team radio after the British GP – but in the long run Vasseur believes this is a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.
“I would be happy if the team scores more points,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into the team, but the main reason we’re losing a bit of performance at the start of the season is because we’ve decided to switch to 100 percent from January 2022.
“When I see the updates from the other teams, even if they all say they switched to the 2022 car, they have updates every single weekend!
“But when we made the decision, I knew that if you switch 100 percent to next year’s car, you won’t develop the car in 2021. And that is the case.
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing C41
Photo by: Motorsport Images
“But I think it was the right decision for us because where we were last year, if we keep the same car and keep investing and developing, I’m not sure if it really makes sense in terms of the championship position.
“If you look at the distance to Toro Rosso [AlphaTauri] or Renault [Alpine], the gap is huge, but I’m really convinced that it was the right decision.
“We knew there was an advantage and a disadvantage, but now you have to deal with the disadvantage.”
While Alfa Romeo’s 2021 hitchhike means the team won’t move up for the rest of this year, Vasseur believes there is still a lot to do for this season.
And he assumes that the small margins that the team needs to push forward in Q3 can be found by both drivers and engineers who get more out of the current package.
“We will certainly not go back to the wind tunnel and the engine will freeze,” said Vasseur. “But as a team we have a lot of room for improvement.
“If you look at the comparison of our drivers, one is more efficient in qualifying, the other in the race. And we have to get the best out of both.
“We certainly still have room for improvement in track operations, as well as in tire management, the coordination of the car and every single issue that has to be dealt with on the track.
“This is important to me, because all of the improvements that we as a team will make on this side, you can probably adopt for the next year as well.
“We have room for improvement and we are not talking about seconds. Between P8, P9 and P14 you often only have a few tenths. I want to keep everyone under pressure and keep pushing in the same direction.”
But Vasseur accepts the current pain because he sees an opportunity for a decent step forward in the next year.
In addition to the lead he hopes Alfa Romeo will have achieved the 2022 car regulations, further reducing the cost cap and changing the Formula 1 prize money structure may leave his team quite happy.
“That’s why we decided to move very quickly and very early to 2022,” he explains.
“Even if we have the upper cost limit this season, we know exactly that the current cars were developed before that [came in].
Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo Racing C41, Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing C41
Photo by: Erik Junius
“2022 will be the first season in which the car will be developed from scratch below the cost ceiling.
“I would say we’re still so far below the cost cap, and I hope to hit the cost cap next year. This is a real opportunity for us.
“I see it as an opportunity that will play for us; when the majority of the other teams have to downsize their team or change their approach or do differently.
“We’re still heading in the direction of increasing the size, the capacity, the number of employees. That means we continue to have a positive dynamic.
“The cost cap is just the next step for us. And with the better distribution of the prize money, it is also an opportunity for us. Overall, I’m more than positive.
“What is also very important is the stability of the team. We have renewed the contract with Alfa Romeo and I think we have the green light in every single area of the company.
“But you know, it’s not enough for me. I know very well that you have to make a good car to have a good one [driver] Lineup to do a good job on the track. In the end, it’s about the race, it’s not just about numbers. “
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How much profit Alfa Romeo will make from its investment in early 2022 will not be seen until next year.
Until then, Vasseur knows that his drivers and team will likely still have some frustrations about how difficult it is for them this year.
But such fear – as Raikkonen showed on team radio after Silverstone – he takes as a positive sign that people are fully motivated to do better.
“I think if you’re a racing driver and Kimi is a racing driver and the whole team is made up of racing drivers, the reaction when you have problems and just run out of points because two laps to go we are P10 … then it is the frustration there, “said Vasseur.
“We have to have a better car. We definitely have to make the car faster. But we have made a decision and it’s not because of the aero development that’s going to happen.”
“But we have a few issues that we need to improve on the car, the setup or the tire management in order to be faster.
“You perfectly understand the driver’s frustration when they are in the car and want to do a better job.
“And I think it’s a proof of motivation for me. So I’m fine with that.”
The post Why Alfa Romeo believes its F1 pain will be worth it in 2021 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
