Kimi Raikkonen helps unveil new Alfa Romeo F1 car… but then spins out in testing

Alfa Romeo have become the last team to officially launch their car for the new F1 season as Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi unveiled their challenger in Barcelona.

The drivers revealed the red and white car in front of their pit garage at the Circuit de Catalunya just minutes before the first session of winter testing got underway.

But no sooner had the car been unveiled than it caused the day’s first red flag, with Raikkonen driving into the gravel at turn five after just five minutes of the session.

Kimi Raikkonen steps out of his car after driving into gravel during pre-season testing

The Finn spun into the gravel at Barcelona just five minutes into the winter’s first session

Raikkonen’s car was quickly recovered back into the pitlane at the Circuit de Catalunya

The Finn, who has moved from Ferrari over the winter following five seasons at the Maranello outfit, was uninjured in the minor incident which saw the car quickly recovered to the pit-lane.

This is Alfa Romeo’s first season since dropping the Sauber name from it’s title, but the car’s name is still a continuation from their former guise, with the chassis number being named the C38 – following on from last term’s C37.

The livery is also similar to that seen last season with only minor changes to the car including the redesign of the Alfa Romeo badge on the engine cover and the removal of Sauber logos. 

Having emerged injury free, Raikkonen is expected to resume testing later in the day

Alfa Romeo launched their new livery for 2019 in the pitlane at the Circuit de Catalunya

The car has a similar look to the Sauber from 2018 but their name has been removed

Veteran Raikkonen (left) joins the team for this season along with Antonio Giovinazzi

Alfa Romeo have already run the car in a shakedown session, with Raikkonen behind the wheel on Wednesday as they ran a Valentine’s Day livery featuring hearts and the team’s shamrock in a patterned design.

The team are hoping this season to build on a promising 2018 where they lifted themselves off the back of the grid to secure their best season since 2013 by finishing eighth with 48 points. 

Raikkonen is expected to do all the team’s running on the first day of winter testing, with teams expected to run eight days in total before the first race of the season in Australia.

With the exception of Williams, who will miss the first day of testing, all the teams will run the first four days of this week, before returning to the track next Tuesday for another four-day session.

Minor changes to the livery has seen a redesign of the Alfa Romeo badge on the back of the car

Following the unveil, mechanics quickly got to work for pre-season testing