It's a sad day for Formula 1 and Alfa Romeo fans as the brand unveiled its final F1 car of the modern era: The Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43. Alfa Romeo is leaving the sport at the end of the 2023 season, ending its licensing agreement with Sauber.

The new livery is a lot simpler than last year's car. There was no mistaking it for anything but Italian, but this year has gone for a black and red livery, with the famous cloverleaf sitting proudly on the top air box. From the rear, there's no mistaking the car's roots with a prominent Italian tricolor on the underside of the rear wing. Hopefully, more people will see the C43's rear end than last year. Stake has also replaced Orlen as the new primary sponsor, and the team has been renamed accordingly for 2023.

We'd like to see Alfa Romeo bow out in style and get closer to McLaren. Last year the team only scored 55 points in the constructors' championship and ended in sixth place. McLaren finished fifth with 159 points to illustrate how large the gap in the midfield was.

At the launch, Jan Monchaux, the team's technical director, mentioned that porpoising was still a concern. The new regulations for 2023 can result in a vehicle being banned for porpoising.

"I am very proud of what we have achieved over these last months because creating a new car is always a massive effort from the team," said Monchaux. "This car is an evolution of last year's, reflecting the new regulations and introducing major changes in the areas where we found improvements [were] needed."

Alfa's drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, gave the standard answers about performance and expectations for the year ahead. They want more. More performance, more points, and maybe a podium finish.

"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," said Bottas. "I cannot wait to go back to racing, I am fully charged and eager to get the new season started."

The modern Alfa Romeo F1 team was never a full factory team. It essentially rented Sauber and its management team for a few years and slapped its livery on top. Still, it's sad to see a brand with the longest history in F1 leave the sport. Cars like the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio are seemingly dinosaurs, and the Italian brand no longer needs F1 to sell cars as it heads into an EV future. Oddly, selling EVs is why most of the new manufacturers are joining the sport.

Audi will eventually take over the Sauber name in 2026 as a full factory team and has already started its investment after buying a minority stake in the Sauber outfit, but it's still unclear what Sauber will do for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Racing under its own name is the most likely scenario.

At least Alfa Romeo F1 Stake is bowing out in the most action-packed season ever. Even following the cancellation of the Zhou Guanyu's home Grand Prix in China, the teams will still compete in 23 races.