2022 Alfa Romeo could be ‘one second quicker’ than last year’s car thanks to new Ferrari PU

Alfa Romeo are said to have made significant gains ahead of the 2022 season.

Alfa Romeo are said to have made significant progress on their 2022 car compared to last year’s machine, with their new car reportedly set to be around one second faster despite the changes to the technical regulations.

Alfa Romeo were an average of one second slower than Mercedes last season, which was a four-tenth improvement from 2020.

However, they ended the Constructors’ Championship ninth as Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi managed only six points finishes between them.

Ground effect-led aerodynamic changes are coming into force this season, with the aero features on the cars massively stripped back in an attempt to promote better, closer racing.

Motorsport journalist, Dimitris Bizas, who writes for Car and Driver Greece, recently posted a tweet regarding Alfa Romeo’s possible performance gains, and the tweet also backed up reports of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo’s engine supplier, overcoming the 20-horsepower drop that is expected to come in 2022.

Formula1News.co.uk contacted him for a direct translation of his tweet from Greek to English.

“Information regarding Alfa Romeo, which I have been able to cross-reference: the feeling coming from the factory is that the new car will be one second quicker than the previous one, even with the regulation changes,” he replied.

“Plus, there is a suggestion that the new Ferrari engine has made significant gains in horsepower.”

Alfa Romeo will run an all-new driver line-up in 2022, following the departure of the retiring Raikkonen and now Formula E driver Giovinazzi.

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After 10 wins and five constructors’ titles in five seasons with Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has joined the side after his departure from the Brackley squad.

Meanwhile, team principal Frederic Vasseur has also brought in Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou, who ended last year’s Formula 2 championship third, as Bottas’ team-mate.