Is Alfa Romeo returning (once again) to Formula 1?
11/26/2017
According to rumors, Sauber will be contesting the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship with Alfa Romeo engines instead of Ferrari engines. Of course, this would be a sham: The Fiat brand Alfa Romeo would merely be the inspiration for the name for promotional purposes, while the power units themselves would be produced by Ferrari either way. Sauber would presumably run as a Ferrari junior team with Ferrari junior drivers, similar to what Toro Rosso does for Red Bull. A rumor so far, but hotly debated.
Nevertheless, these rumors offer the opportunity to take a quick look at the history books of F1. The introductory lines of the premier class were written by Alfa Romeo . The first two world champions, Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951, both drove Alfa Romeo.
The racing team surprisingly withdrew in 1951. It was not until the 1970s that it made a comeback, initially as an engine supplier. Bruce McLaren's team equipped a third car - the McLaren M7D - with an Alfa engine in 1970. In 1971, the Italians supplied the March team, who used the engine as an alternative to the Cosworth DFV. Both collaborations were unsuccessful.
This changed with the collaboration with Brabham between 1976 and 1979. The powerful 12-cylinder engine was a hit, especially in 1978. Unforgotten: Gordon Murray's revolutionary "vacuum cleaner", in which a fan in the rear provided downforce. After Niki Lauda drove it around the ears of the competition in Sweden in 1978, the innovative Brabham-Alfa literally kicked up too much dust and was immediately banned. But even without the vacuum cleaner, the Brabham-Alfas were still among the front runners.
From 1979, Alfa Romeo was back as a racing team. However, there were no major successes, although the team certainly had potential. There was no doubt that capable drivers climbed into the cockpit, including the 1978 world champion Mario Andretti. The cars also sometimes had the speed to win the season, but it was the lousy reliability that repeatedly thwarted the racing team. Then there was the drama surrounding Patrick Depailler, who was killed in an accident during testing at the Hockenheimring in 1980.
From 1983 to 1985, Alfa Romeo then outsourced the F1 team to the Euroracing motorsport team. The striking Benetton racers - which were not yet Benetton - were hopelessly bogged down by 1985 at the latest. That was the end of the Formula 1 chapter for Alfa Romeo for the time being.
In 2015, the brand was finally back in F1, namely as an emblem on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. It is quite possible that the legendary logo of the traditional brand will adorn the Sauber chassis next year. Whether Sauber-Alfa or Sauber-Alfa-Romeo: you could get used to both.
