The pre-season testing is now underway in Spain and the final few cars have been unveiled. We’re starting off with Alfa Romeo which has a new co-title sponsor for 2020: PKN ORLEN, a Polish petroleum brand. Thus the new car, the C39, features prominent branding for its new sponsor. Sadly, the logo doesn’t quite fit with the otherwise stunning livery which sadly spoils the overall look of the car. It seems like someone simply added a logo to the car in a video game’s livery editor without much thought.
While the C39 is not as good looking as the C38, it’s not that different from it aerodynamically speaking. Alfa has improved and refined upon last year’s car which had a good first half of the season before falling off the pace entirely. The team continues to source its entire powertrain from Ferrari which should offer plenty of oomph for midfield battles.
The Italian outfit has retained its driver lineup of Kimi Raikkonen (likely in his last F1 season at the ripe age of 40) and Antonio Giovinazzi. ORLEN wasn’t the only Polish addition to Alfa Romeo Racing F1 as the team signed Robert Kubica as its reserve driver. The two big names seem to be a bit of a combo package. It also has a new test driver by the name of Tatiana Calderon.
It’s been a really long time since an Alfa Romeo won a race in Formula 1. The C39 is unlikely to come anywhere close a podium but the team could certainly hope to improve its standings in the middle-order. Personally, my only interest in this team for 2020 is the performance of Raikkonen. If it is to be his last year in F1, I hope he can give the likes of Haas, Racing Point and AlphaTauri a tough challenge in the battle for points.
You can explore the C39 from many angles in the gallery below:
The Auto Loons 