Alfa Romeo must look closely at Red Bull: 'Others win more with a DRS'

Alfa Romeo Racing got off to an incredibly good start in 2022, but this year the team has failed to do so. Although it has already taken six points for the constructors' championship, the first three Grands Prix have been somewhat disappointing for the Swiss/Italian team. Xevi Pujolar, head of trackside engineering, hopes for more downforce in the coming weeks and months.

A major update package was introduced in Australia and despite Guanyu Zhou's ninth place finish, Alfa Romeo is not completely satisfied with the new parts. It does not seem to have made the team a whole lot more competitive immediately, even though expectations are relatively high.

"The next updates are already in the pipeline," Pujolar says. Alfa Romeo's bolide does not have one major weakness that can be addressed, it is more the whole picture. "We don't have a specific weakness. With the new front wing, our car comes into its own better. Our shortcomings compared to the fastest are not limited to slow or fast corners. We need more downforce in general."

In any case, the Hinwil-based team is using the current break to see how to take more advantage of the open rear wing. Red Bull is incredibly strong in that area, Alfa Romeo anything but. "Others gain more speed when DRS is activated. That helps them especially in qualifying," Pujolar concluded at Auto, Motor und Sport.