Alfa Romeo has its shakedown: "Crucial step in our preparations"

After the official presentation last Monday, the new Alfa Romeo C41 got to drive for the first time on Friday. Robert Kubica had the honour of driving the first kilometres on the Barcelona circuit.

Kubica, test and reserve driver for Alfa Romeo, took to the track with the new Alfa Romeo for the first time this morning. After a series of installation runs at the start of the day, the C41 underwent a series of tests by the team's engineers, with the aim of carrying out all the checks necessary to ensure the car is ready for use.

In total, Kubica completed 29 laps. "It’s always a special moment to be the first to drive a new car. Today’s focus was on making sure everything worked as planned and to ensure all systems were functional, so performance was not an objective, but the thrill of driving a car like this isn’t diminished. The car felt good and I am looking forward to driving it once again later in the season.”

The day went off without a hitch and the team will confidently head to Bahrain for the official winter test and the first Grand Prix of the season. "Today’s work is a crucial step in our preparations for the season and I’m pleased to report the day went as planned," team principal Frederic Vasseur said in a press release. "We were able to perform all the checks we set out to do and now we can focus on analysing these first bits of data and prepare for the next test in two weeks’ time.”