Photo: Dragos Savu for Alfa Romeo Romania
When talking motorsport, it’s hard to leave Alfa Romeo out of the conversation. Involved in motor racing since 1911, the Italian automaker entered Formula 1 in 1950 as a works team. By the end of the 1980s, Alfa Romeo got fed up by the king motorsport and left the series at the end of the 1988 season. Three decades later, the grand return has been confirmed.
Alfa Romeo will join Sauber as title sponsor from 2018 onwards, with the partnership including technical, strategic, and technological cooperation. The Sauber C37 will use Alfa Romeo-rebranded Ferrari hybrid power units, which will be more competitive than the 2016-spec PU the Swiss team ran in the 2017 season. Before the Prancing Horse, Sauber was expected to cooperate with Honda, but the deal was dropped July 2017.
Looking at the bigger picture, Alfa Romeo partnering up with Sauber is a win-win situation. The team will be more competitive thanks to the stronger tie-up with Ferrari and at least one new driver (i.e., Charles Leclerc), whilst Alfa Romeo will expand its reach to a wider audience. With production and demand not up to what Alfa Romeo anticipated, the Sauber deal could help the Italian automaker’s commercial stagnation.
"The Alfa Romeo engineers and technicians, who have already demonstrated their capabilities with the newly-launched models, Giulia and Stelvio, will have the opportunity to make that experience available to the Sauber F1 Team. At the same time, Alfa Romeo fans will once again have the opportunity to support an automaker that is determined to begin writing an exciting new chapter in its unique, legendary sporting history,” said Sergio Marchionne, the head honcho of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The most important line in the joint release is “the clear intention [for Alfa Romeo] to make its mark,” though the automaker doesn’t detail what sort of target it has in mind. Alfa Romeo achieved its best year as a constructor in Formula 1 in 1983, securing sixth place behind McLaren-Ford. The 2017 season that ended last weekend in Abu Dhabi sees Sauber trail at the back or the pack, behind the McLaren-Honda and Haas-Ferrari teams.
Looking at the bigger picture, Alfa Romeo partnering up with Sauber is a win-win situation. The team will be more competitive thanks to the stronger tie-up with Ferrari and at least one new driver (i.e., Charles Leclerc), whilst Alfa Romeo will expand its reach to a wider audience. With production and demand not up to what Alfa Romeo anticipated, the Sauber deal could help the Italian automaker’s commercial stagnation.
"The Alfa Romeo engineers and technicians, who have already demonstrated their capabilities with the newly-launched models, Giulia and Stelvio, will have the opportunity to make that experience available to the Sauber F1 Team. At the same time, Alfa Romeo fans will once again have the opportunity to support an automaker that is determined to begin writing an exciting new chapter in its unique, legendary sporting history,” said Sergio Marchionne, the head honcho of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The most important line in the joint release is “the clear intention [for Alfa Romeo] to make its mark,” though the automaker doesn’t detail what sort of target it has in mind. Alfa Romeo achieved its best year as a constructor in Formula 1 in 1983, securing sixth place behind McLaren-Ford. The 2017 season that ended last weekend in Abu Dhabi sees Sauber trail at the back or the pack, behind the McLaren-Honda and Haas-Ferrari teams.
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