Alfa Romeo in Formula 1
Alfa Romeo has participated as a Formula 1 team in different periods. Before its return as a construction team in 2019, after renaming the Sauber structure and assuming the Swiss license, it participated in the championships of the 1950, 1951 and 1979-1985 seasons as an Italian team. His successes occurred mainly before the establishment of the World Championship and in the first two years of it, failing to green up his laurels on his return. Already in the 1920s, some Alfa Romeos competed on European circuits and soon an official brand team led by Nicola Romeo himself was set up, in which great drivers of the time raced such as Giuseppe Campari, Antonio Ascari or Enzo Ferrari..
Background
With the sports management of Ferrari, the Alfas rose to the forefront of the competition, especially with the signing of the Fiat engineer Vittorio Jano. Its first design, the P1, was withdrawn from competition as it was too unstable and difficult to drive after Sivocci's fatal accident at the 1923 Italian GP at Monza. Its successor, the P2, however, was virtually unbeatable in the 1924 and 1925 seasons. The displacement limitation to 1500 cc and the accidental death of Antonio Ascari forced the withdrawal of the team in the following biennium. For the year 1928 the International Federation established a Grand Prix formula based only on minimum weights that was hardly respected and that ended in the year 31 with the Free Formula. For this reason, Alfa returned to competition with the old P2s to fight against the excellent Bugattis 35 dominators of that period. The incorporation of Achille Varzi to the team led by Ferrari brought new triumphs to the brand. In the year 30 with the incorporation of the official Maserati team and Varzi's departure to it in the middle of the season, Ferrari entrusted Jano with the design of new models. On the one hand, a sports road model was adapted, the 8C, with a 2300 cc engine that was called the Monza type, and a two-engine car was designed, one in the traditional position and the other later known as type A or Bimotore that with a total displacement of 6330 cc gave a power of 540 CV and although it was not very suitable for competition, in 1935 it managed to break the speed record with 335 km/h on the Bergamo-Brescia motorway. Also from 1931 the great aces of the moment, Tazio Nuvolari, Rudolf Caracciola, Juan Zanelli and Philippe Étancelin, joined the team. But Alfa's real success came with Jano's latest design for the cloverleaf brand, the type B or P3 single-seater, the first authentic single-seater in the history of motorsports. In 1932 the team made up of Nuvolari, Caracciola, Campari and Borzacchini gave the brand 15 victories in one of the most spectacular seasons for the Alfas.
In 1933 the factory decided to officially withdraw, leaving some Monza-type models in charge of Ferrari, which formed its own team with Nuvolari, Brivio, Etancelin and Fagioli and in the same way Caracciola and Louis Chiron founded the Double C team also with models Monza type. However, the Monzas were not competitive enough and the departure of Nuvolari to Maserati made Ferrari ask the factory for the return of the P3s, which once again counted their participations as victories. In this way, the 1934 season was overwhelming for the Ferrari-Alfa Romeo team, with its drivers Varzi, Chiron and Trossi reaching the finish line first 19 times.
The following seasons were dominated by the German brands, the Alfa being the only ones that put up any resistance. Thus the 1935 season was dominated by Caracciola's Mercedes W25 but Nuvolari and his P3 signed up for the German GP in one of his most memorable performances, in addition to other minor races. The 1936 season was that of Bernd Rosemeyer and his Auto Union leaving the Alfas the Spanish GP and the Coppa Ciano. However Alfa in 1937 could no longer compete against the Germans and could only score some minor victories. Neither with the change of regulations in 1938 could the Alfas cope with the powerful German cars, neither the 316 with a 16-cylinder engine and 3000 cc nor the 308 with 8 cylinders and the same displacement achieved important victories although they fought honorably. The first version of the 158 Alfetta model designed by the engineer Giacomo Colombo with a supercharged 1500cc 8-cylinder in-line engine with a two-stroke compressor appeared in 1938 and only managed to win the Tripoli GP in 1940, with Nino Farina at the wheel., and already with World War II at its height. This was the first victory of the car that would mark an entire era, yes, after the war.
After the conflict, an anarchic period began in terms of regulations and formulas that lasted until 1949. The Alfa Romeo factory team, without the management of Ferrari since 1938 since it had fallen out with the director Ugo Gobatto and the engineer Guifré Ricart, did not begin its activity until mid-1946, although Jean-Pierre Wimille had already won a few races with an old 308 before. each of the races in which they appeared. The team made up of Varzi, Trossi, Wimille, Farina and Consalvo Sanesi took the podium places in the four races in which they participated. The 48 was the true consecration of Wimille as the best of his time, winning the Grand Prix of France, Monza and Italy at the controls of his Alfetta. However, Varzi's death in training for the Nations GP in Bern marred Alfa Romeo's season. The 49th season started even worse with the fatal accident involving Wimille who was driving a Simca-Gordini circumstantially during training for the Argentine GP. Also shortly after, Trossi died, this time a victim of cancer. Dismantled in this way, the team, the management of the brand decided to abandon the competition, leaving Ferrari, Talbot and Maserati free rein. The numerical summary of this period could not be more eloquent, out of 19 Alfa participations, 16 victories had been obtained and of these, 10 were triplets.
Start in Formula 1
The Alfettas returned to the fray when the first World Championship was organized in 1950. The Alpha team made up of Farina, Fagioli and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio (the three F's team) dominated the season like never before. Again the numbers are categorical, of the six scoring races (except Indianapolis) the Alfa Romeos won all six, obtained the six fastest laps and six poles, one triplet and two doublets. They also participated in five other races in which Fangio won three times (San Remo, Naciones and Pescara) and Farina the other two (Bari and BRDC). In the end the title was taken by the Italian Giuseppe Farina.
The 1951 championship was not so overwhelming despite the fact that the new Alfetta 159 outperformed the 158 (400 CV) but its greater weight and above all the appearance of the fast Ferrari 375 (with a 12-cylinder engine in V and 4500 cc designed by Aurelio Lampredi) ended the unbeatable Alfa Romeo. After the victories of Fangio (Switzerland and France) and Farina (Belgium) in the G.P. from Great Britain at Silverstone, the Argentine driver José Froilán González placed his Ferrari 375 ahead of the Alfetta of his compatriot Fangio. The subsequent victories of Ascari's Ferrari in Germany and Italy left the resolution of the championship for the last race in Spain at the Pedralbes circuit. Ascari's poor choice of tires and the good organization of the Alfa team ultimately gave Fangio victory, ultimately saving the honor of the brand. 4 victories, 7 fastest laps, 4 pole positions and 3 non-scoring victories was the balance of a good season that put the finishing touch to the Alfetta's participation in Formula 1. The failure of the efforts to receiving a subsidy from the Italian government and above all the real threat of the Ferraris and the new BRMs convinced the Alfa management to withdraw their single-seaters from competition.
During the 1960s, although the company had no official presence in motorsport's top flight, several Formula 1 teams used independently developed Alfa Romeo engines to power their cars.
Return in the 70s
Nineteen years had to pass before Alfa Romeo, dedicated at that time to the Sport-Prototype competition, timidly returned to F1. Autodelta, the sports section of Alfa Romeo, prepared 3000 cc V8 engines in 1970 for the brand's driver, Andrea de Adamich. The McLaren team was in charge of making the chassis (M7D and M14D) and entered a third single-seater in the championship. Of the 10 races Adamich participated in, he only managed to get on the grid 5 times and his best result was 8th place in Italy. The following year the attempt was repeated this time with the March Engineering team, which prepared some 711 chassis for Adamich, and for Nanni Galli (on one occasion Ronnie Peterson, an official March driver, even participated with an Autodelta engine). The March team, which wanted to obtain with this collaboration an engine that it did not have to buy, was not very convinced of the results of the alliance with Autodelta since it only obtained a meager 11th place (Adamich) and two 12th (Galli), especially when compared to the 2nd place in the championship achieved by Peterson in the March-Cosworth 711.
More serious was the project that in 1976 united the company of Bernie Ecclestone (Motor Racing Developments) that managed the Brabham team with Autodelta directed this time by Carlo Chiti. Alfa Romeo submitted a bulky and problematic flat 12 for the Brabham BT45s of Carlos Reutemann and Carlos Pace without much success (two 4ths for Pace and another 4th for Reutemann). The BT45 Alfa Romeo started the 1977 season well with a 2nd place for Pace in Argentina and a 6th fastest lap for John Watson in South Africa. Pace's death disrupted the development of the new BT45B and it was not until the middle of the season that good results were obtained again, a 2nd place for Watson in France and a fastest lap in Austria and two third places for Hans Stuck in Germany and Austria, in addition to the Watson's pole in Monaco. The championship ended with Stuck 11th in the final standings.
In 1978 the Brabham-Alfa Romeo team prepared for the assault on the World Championship. The Austrian Niki Lauda was signed to the champion of the previous year, accompanied by Watson. Gordon Murray was commissioned to design the BT46 and the controversial fan-powered BT46B which soon emerged as an excellent single-seater. Lauda managed to win in Sweden and Italy, three 2nd and two 3rd, he also obtained 2 pole positions and 4 fastest laps, and with 44 points he climbed to 4th place in the final standings. Watson with a 2nd and two 3rd places obtained a creditable 6th place, and the team was 3rd in the constructors' championship behind the invincible Lotus 79 with ground effect of Andretti and Peterson, and the Ferraris by Reutemann and Villeneuve.
For 1979 At Murray's instigation, Alfa produced a new, narrower V12 engine in just three months for the 1979 season, but it proved unreliable and fuel inefficient. The hopes placed in the team faded in the following season, especially due to the constant tensions between Brabham and Autodelta. Lauda only took a meager 4th in Italy as did his new teammate Brazilian Nelson Piquet in the Netherlands. The season ended in divorce and Autodelta formed a new team competing with the Alfa Romeo 177 with Alfa Romeo chassis and engine and Marlboro sponsorship. This car has competed 3 times and has been featured on occasions with Italian drivers Bruno Giacomelli and Vittorio Brambilla. In the same season Bruno debuted a new car called the Alfa Romeo 179. In 1982, Euroracing took over the roles of operating the team and designing the car. The team's best season was in 1983 when the team debuted the new turbocharged V8 engine dubbed the 890T replacing the V12 engine and achieved 6th place in the constructors' championship, largely thanks to two second-place finishes for Andrea de Cesaris.. Alfa Romeo withdrew the team at the end of 1985, after a disastrous season in which they failed to score points. The brand continued to participate as an engine supplier until 1987.
For the 1987 season, Alfa Romeo made a deal to supply engines to Ligier. The Alfa Romeo 415T, a new 850 HP (634 kW; 862 PS) twin-turbo 1.5 inline 4 engine that was tested in a Ligier JS29 by René Arnoux. When FIAT (the same company that owns the giant Ferrari) took control of Alfa Romeo, the deal was called off (apparently due to Arnoux's negative comments about the engine) and Ligier had to use Megatron (ex-BMW) engines for the entire 1987 season.
Alfa Romeo also supplied engines to the small Italian team Osella from 1983 to 1988. They supplied the modest team with V12 engines (1983) and V8 turbos (1984-1987). Early on, Alfa also offered some technical input: The 1984 Osella FA1F model was based on the 1983 Alfa Romeo 183T. The first chassis was a slightly revised 183T. All subsequent Osella models up to the FA1L in 1988 originated from the 183T design.
In 1988, the last season of turbo engines, Alfa Romeo saw its reputation damaged due to the bad image generated by Enzo Osella's cars, so despite continuing to supply engines to this squad, it was prohibited from use of the Alfa Romeo brand to name the engines, due to this, they were simply called "Osella V8". At the end of that season, the relationship ended, ending Alfa Romeo's participation in Formula 1 after a very unsuccessful second spell.
New comeback in 2019
Approach as a sponsor
In the 2018 season, Alfa Romeo was the main sponsor of the Sauber team, in a technical and commercial partnership agreement. The good reception of the fans for the return of the brand, added to the bad financial moment that Sauber was dragging a few seasons ago, determined that the Fiat group decided to invest and acquire the team.
On December 2 of that year, a press conference was held at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, followed by the presentation of the visual design of the future car and driver squad, Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson.
Season 2019
Alfa Romeo returned to the world championship under the name Alfa Romeo Racing in 2019, renaming the team Sauber F1 Team.
Out of respect for Sauber and for continuing as a partner of the structure, Alfa Romeo's single-seaters will bear the "C" within its denomination, a characteristic that the brand maintained. In addition, the team maintained Swiss nationality.
In his first Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen finished eighth, scoring the team's first points, in the Alfa Romeo C38, in almost 35 years.
The team's best result was achieved in the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which the possibility of returning to the podium was close. On that occasion, Kimi Räikkönen finished in fourth position and Antonio Giovinazzi in fifth place.
Season 2020
In the 2020 season, the team was once again eighth, but with a significant drop in performance. He added only eight points (four from each driver).
Despite the poor results, and aware of the problems with the car, not the drivers, the team decided to continue with Giovinazzi and Räikkönen for the following season. In any case, it was a somewhat surprising decision, because at that time Giovinazzi was said to be replaced by Mick Schumacher, who eventually ended up with the Haas F1 Team.
Season 2021
This season, Alfa Romeo found themselves outclassed by the Williams team, so they finished ninth in the constructors' championship with 13 points. Räikkönen added 10 points, with two eighth places that were the best results of the season, while Giovinazzi could only collect 3 points. ..
Robert Kubica made his debut with the team in two races, in which he did not score points, due to Räikkönen testing positive for Covid-19, for which he was unable to compete.
Season 2022
For the 2022 season, the team renewed its driver roster. Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were its new drivers. On the other hand, Räikkönen withdrew from the category, and Giovinazzi moved to Formula E.
In the first race in Bahrain, Bottas finished a strong sixth, a position the team hadn't reached since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, while Zhou took a tenth position, giving him his first F1 points and a Chinese driver for the first time in the competition's history.
The races would continue in the same vein, Bottas constantly getting into the points, while Zhou stagnated in the middle of the table. The team's best result would come at the Emilia-Romagna GP, where the Finnish driver finished fifth, very close to George Russell's fourth, while the joint best result came in Canada. There Valtteri finished seventh and his teammate eighth after a penalty for Fernando Alonso.
However, Alfa Romeo had a very considerable drop in performance, since, after the race in Canada, they went six consecutive races without being able to score points, until Guanyu was able to place in tenth position in the Italian GP. His teammate had a disastrous streak, going ten races without scoring points, until in Mexico, he was finally able to score points. It should be noted that Zhou got the fastest lap in the Japanese GP, although he did not score points after finishing sixteenth in that race.
After the race in Mexico, Valtteri managed to be ninth in Brazil and get the team's last points in the championship, where Bottas achieved a great amount with 49 units, the most since the Italian brand returned in 2019. For his part, Guanyu Zhou only got 6 points. Despite the dismal half of the season, Valtteri's great start saw the team maintain sixth place in the constructors' championship with 55 points, the same as Aston Martin, but broken by the former Mercedes driver's fifth place at Imola.
Season 2023
In the 2023 season, the team will continue to have both drivers. In addition, on January 27, 2023, it announced Stake, a company related to the online gaming industry, as the team's new main sponsor, renamed Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake.
Single-seaters
Formula 1
The following gallery shows the different models used by Alfa Romeo in Formula 1.
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Results
Pilots
| Pilots | Careers | Victorias | Poles | VR | Podium | Points | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Antonio Giovinazzi
| 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
 Kimi Räikkönen
| 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 0 |
| Bruno Giacomelli
| 49 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| Riccardo Patrese
| 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Andrea de Cesaris
| 32 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 0 |
 Eddie Cheever
| 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
 Guanyu Zhou | 29 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mario Andretti
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mauro Baldi
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Giuseppe Farina
| 13 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 1 |
 Juan Manuel Fangio
| 13 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 64 | 1 |
.svg){kind=small} Patrick Depailler
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luigi Fagioli
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 32 | 0 |
| Consalvo Sanesi
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Felice Bonetto
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Vittorio Brambilla
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Emmanuel de Graffenried
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
 Robert Kubica
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Paul Pietsch
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Piero Taruffi
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
.svg){kind=small} Reg Parnell
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
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