Alfa Romeo is returning to Formula 1 after an absence of more than 30 years.
The Italian carmaker has entered into a technical and commercial partnership with the Sauber F1 Team, becoming its title sponsor as of 2018.
As of next season, the team will be known as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team. The deal includes a strategic, commercial and technological partnership, allowing for an exchange of engineering and technical data, Sauber said in a statement.
The Alfa Romeo logo will be featured on the cars, and they will use 2018 Ferrari engines.
“This agreement with the Sauber F1 Team is a significant step in the reshaping of the Alfa Romeo brand,” Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said in a statement.
“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.”
Alfa Romeo had previously been involved in F1 from 1950 to 1988 as a constructor and engine supplier, winning the World Championship of Drivers in 1950 and 1951. It was an engine supplier only for several teams from1961 to 1979 and returned as a constructor in 1979.
“We are very pleased to welcome Alfa Romeo to the Sauber F1 Team,” Pascal Picci of Sauber Holding AG said in a statement. “Alfa Romeo has a long history of success in Grand Prix racing, and we are very proud that this internationally renowned company has chosen to work with us for its return to the pinnacle of motorsport.”
