Valtteri Bottas ‘cannot wait’ to drive ‘stunning’ Alfa Romeo C43

Alfa Romeo recently unveiled their 2023 challenger, dubbed the C43, and a 'fully charged' Valtteri Bottas can't wait to get started with it.

Valtteri Bottas ‘cannot wait’ to drive ‘stunning’ Alfa Romeo C43

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Challenger: the C43, to be driven by Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu

Alfa Romeo recently unveiled their car for the 2023 season, dubbed the ‘C43’. The name has followed a trend that goes back to 2010, when the car was called the ‘C29’, with the exception of the ‘C40’. They are also the first team this year to launch their actual car and not the livery. Three teams have previously launched their car, namely Haas, Red Bull, and Williams, but the models shown are not particularly representative of their actual 2023 challenger, which will be driven by Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

This fact, plus the livery, have both been well-received. Fans seem to love the black-red color combination. People have drawn comparisons to Ferrari and even Coca-Cola. There also seems to be a touch of inspiration from Audi. Currently, it’s easily the best-received livery. Their fans will hope that it performs as good as it looks. The Swiss team need to take a step forward, in order to prepare themselves for Audi’s arrival in 2026. The German manufacturer aims to win races by 2028.

YouTube video

Bottas, their current ‘team leader’, also seems to be a fan of the new look. On the car (and livery), he said: “The C43 is finally here and I cannot wait to bring it on track. I really like our new livery, I think it is stunning and a fine evolution from last year’s one.” Last year, instead of black, the secondary color was white. For the most part, it seemed to have followed the same pattern but the black gives it a more interesting look.

FS Video

Read More: Valtteri Bottas reveals how ‘painful’ training for F1 led to ‘eating disorder’

Valtteri Bottas confident that Alfa Romeo can aim higher in 2023

Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas

Alfa Romeo will depart as Sauber’s title sponsor after the upcoming season, so this will be their final season together. Both parties would definitely like to sign off on a high note. Alfa Romeo finished P6, level on points with Aston Martin, last time around in 2022. This was their best result since 2012 when they also finished 6th. Valtteri Bottas thought it was an ‘interesting’ season, and is confident that they can aim higher this time around.

He said: “It’s been an interesting first season with the team, we made some pretty solid progress together, and now there’s only one direction to follow: up, higher, and better. There is obviously still work to do and things to improve, but I am confident we have it in ourselves to aim for even higher results this year. I cannot wait to go back to racing, I am fully charged and eager to get the new season started.”

Fans will get an even better view of the car, and how it performs, at the pre-season testing in Bahrain, just over two weeks from now. Less than two weeks after that, the season will begin again. In 2022, Alfa Romeo started the season at a very good level, particularly Bottas, who finished P6. It’ll be interesting to see if they can recreate such a good start to the season again.

In case you missed it: