New Alfa Romeo hits the track as the team shakedown the C41 in Barcelona

McLaren, Red Bull, AlphaTauri and Williams have already had their 2021 cars out on track as preparations for the new season continue, and on Friday it was Alfa Romeo's turn to clock the first laps with their latest challenger.

The Swiss-based team launched the C41 at a ceremony in Warsaw on Monday, with race drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, test and reserve driver Robert Kubica, and Team Principal Fred Vasseur all in attendance to see the covers come off the new car.

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And on Friday, the car was in action for the very first time, as the team completed a shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Kubica at the wheel.

After the test, Kubica said: “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.”

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Vasseur added: “Today’s work is a crucial step in our preparations for the season and I’m pleased to report the day went as planned. 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.”

The car will next be on track at pre-season testing from March 12-14th, before the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks later.