Alfa Romeo's 2020 contender, which is certain to be designated the C39, is to be unveiled at Barcelona, on the first morning of the opening pre-season test.

In a brief press release, Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN - its new title in the wake of Robert Kubica's sponsor following the Pole from Grove to Hinwil - announced that it will present its contender for the 2020 season at 08:15 in the Barcelona pitlane, ahead of the first day of testing for the new season.

The presentation will feature the team's race drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, reserve driver, Robert Kubica, as well as team principal, Frederic Vasseur, and members of the team's technical staff.

In the three, four, five-way battle that was the 2019 midfield, and with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull effectively filling the first six places, there was only so much room for improvement, certainly in terms of point scoring, and scoring points in the first four races was possibly the worst thing that veteran Raikkonen could have done, for it offered hope of further improvement on the back of 2018.

There was another flurry of point scoring mid-season, followed by a fine fourth and fifth in the ever-changing conditions in Brazil, but ultimately, at season end, Alfa was eighth, like Sauber the season before, but with nine more points.

The C38 wasn't a bad car as such, but neither was it a particularly good car, and while it showed glimpses of good one-lap pace it was on Sunday afternoons that it struggled, a situation not helped by the struggle with the 2019 tyres or a number of strategic errors.

Indeed, iIn short, though Alfa retained the 8th place won in 2018, it never built on that, and in the second half of 2019 - other than the 'freak' result in Brazil - was looking to be falling off the back of the midfield group and into the clutches of Haas.