Martin Brundle pointed out a problem with the new-look Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car after it was unveiled on Tuesday morning.
They became the fourth team on the grid to show off the colours of their 2023 machine. In the final year that Alfa Romeo will be involved in the sport, they will race with a black and dark red paint job which has split the opinions of fans on social media.
The C43 is notable for the amount of bare carbon fibre which appears to be on show. This may well have been an enforced decision by the team, after several cars were considered to be far too overweight last year.
By using more bare carbon fibre, the team is able to shave a few grams off the car compared to if it had been covered in paint. While that is a positive, Sky Sports pundit Brundle is worried that it will make his and others' jobs a it harder over the coming season.
"Love the back of the rear wing," he wrote, reacting to the design. "This new low weight carbon finish is becoming very prevalent in F1, weight limit drops by 2kgs this year and most teams were struggling before, but this car will be hard to see on TV or trackside on an overcast day."
Alfa Romeo's creation of a dark livery comes after the other three teams to show off their car designs also followed a similar path. Haas have much more black on their car this year, while both Red Bull and Williams employ the use of a lot of dark blue colours on their own vehicles.
Fans were split on the design of the Alfa Romeo C43. @Jed_Lilly said: "I reckon there will be a lot of half unpainted cars this year, F1 is the only place where black is a lighter colour than white." And @mcmurray_23 added: "It's a shame that most cars are going to be running only 50% of a livery this year."
@LambOnF1 pointed out that, while we are yet to see what the new Ferrari car will look like, it is likely the two teams will be difficult to distinguish on track. @dystainak said: "It may look nice on the renders but in action, it will just blend in."
But not everyone was so critical. @jaymieC89 said the C43 is "one of the best looking cars I've seen for some time", while @_HerrDavid_ feels Alfa Romeo got their livery design "spot on". Several other pointed out that the red and black combo might be a nod to Sauber's future F1 partners Audi.
