The Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo Sauber was one of the disappointments of the 2021 season. The Swiss team finished in ninth place in the Constructors' classification, collecting very few points, only thirteen, the result of six points finishes, with Raikkonen finishing on ten and Giovinazzi threesome.
The team has deliberately chosen to focus exclusively on the 2022 project, effectively racing with the same single-seater for all of 2021, without updating it. An almost obligatory choice, which could provide long-term advantages, but which certainly did not pay off in what was a rather difficult season.
“We took the direction for 2022 very early at the end of 2020, perhaps underestimating how difficult it would be to tackle 22 GPs with the same car - the words of Frederic Vasseur, Alfa Romeo team principal, to Autosport - From a mental point of view it wasn't easy, when you have updates coming you always have more motivation, more drive, because you think the car will be faster. We had to decide, whether to invest money and time in 2021, perhaps improving little, or concentrate all the work on 2022, with much more chance of catching up thanks to the new regulation. We bet everything on 2022, we'll see in a few months if we did well."
