Im pleased to see this but would they be ALLOWED to beat the mother team ever? Or would it be more like a driver development team like Toro.
Must? For what purpose? A car company that has been on the brink of colapse for the last 20 years or so has no business spending their pocket money on F1. Sure...brand the customer engines as Alfa, that'll be better and much more cost effective solution.
That's surely what they will do, Alfa couldn't afford f1 surely, and I don't see sponsors picking Alfa over Ferrari or merc, and sponsor money will be key to being successful.
When I read ' Sweater Guy' , I thought, yes, Benetton sponsorship!!. Terrible to live in/for the past..
M is an idiot.....Sell some cars first and and then go sportscar racing first, then maybe F1 if it is still around Audi is what he is going after. How many F1 teams do they support?? I give this whole FIAT circus 2-3 years unless they find a merger partner!
Agree, Alfa in f.1 is stupid....they fight with Merc, BMw and Audi, do unless they can beat them, no use to go, and Alfa won't go to f.1 to beat ferrari and Merc...
FCA's big money maker is Jeep. If we wait long enough Sweater Guy may suggest that they MUST be in F1. Especially if he can get 4wd written into the tech regs.
Very good! Unfortunately, they outlawed that *many* years back. My memory is hazy, but didn't Colin try it one time? He was such an innovator; the turbine car was kinda weird but I absolutely loved his "offset" Indycar. (the 38). I seem to recall there were many howls that it couldn't possibly be legal at the time, but there was nothing in the rules that they could "get" him for..... That changed PDQ! Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
Jim Clark's Indy Lotus at Goodwood...nice. All of the Indy Roadsters of that era were offset to the left, but it was hidden under the bodywork. The father of a high school classmate of mine had Indy cars. He even had Fangio drive for him...it was a disaster. That car was at Goodwood in 2011.
Sweet! Even if it didn't work out. I didn't realize they were all offset. As "dramatically" as the Lotus? Cheers, Ian
Correct. 1969 was the year of the AWD experiment in F1. The Lotus 63 started at least one race (Clermont-Ferrand), driven by John Miles (it DNF'd). The Matra MS 84 looked almost identical to the conventional MS 80, but in fact had a tubular space frame rather than a monocoque structure (no doubt for reasons of economy on an experimental car). J.P Beltoise managed a heroic ninth place at Silverstone. The McLaren effort was more of a test "mule", and never started a race. AWD cars were, of course, inherently heavy, and the development of more effective wings solved the problem of transferring horsepower to the ground much more efficiently. The Lotus 56B was perhaps even more of a footnote, being a reworked version of the 1968 gas turbine Indy car. It entered several non-championship F1 races and grands prix in 1971. It proved to be very effective in the wet, but also fragile. Its best result was 8th place at Monza in the hands of Emerson Fittipaldi.
Great info guys, thanks for the "memory joggers." Did Colin ever build *anything* that wasn't "fragile"? As an aside, I used to race 1/8th scale R/C cars. Trundled all over the UK & Europe over the years. Great fun & bunch of guys (& even a few girls.) 4WD was *essential* to, basically, keep control of the thing. If you lost one of the drive belts it was all over - Astounding the effect it had/has on grip & cornering ability. At least in those little things, & I think the "physics" scales. Cheers, Ian
Cool! AWD RC cars. I never knew they existed. I guess my previous post leads me to reluctantly admit that I remember the 1969 F1 season pretty clearly. I was 16 and an avid fan of the sport.
For someone who might be otherwise busy trying to save a troubled global industrial company, Mr. Marchionne seems to have plenty of time to dabble in F1. Meanwhile, Chrysler's sedans are dying, Alfa can't get a car to market, Lancia is about dead (again), Maserati is falling way short....etc etc. Good news, Jeep is doing great and Ferrari is holding up for now as an independent company.... Alfa in F1? Some thoughts 1) yes, more manufacturers in F1 would be net-net good. 2) A new team following the Haas model (i.e. a LOT of technical support, beyond just the customer engine) with enough funding could survive; thriving is another story. 3) I am sure given the inevitable changes in F1, Sergio would like to control another vote on the manufacturer side; he has Ferrari, he pretty much has Haas, an Alfa entry would be a bit of a political majority if/when the strategy working group politburo gets reshaped. 4) given Alfa's priorities and needs, "being in F1" is far from a relevant initiative. While the board might allow it, the street will not like it. 5) once again, I think this is a bit of the "rodeo clown" (i.e. let's distract from the real issues), whether around Alfa's product roadmap, or whatever issue might be uncomfortable. At the moment, Alfa isn't inspiring many
I don't think anyone's done a 2WD RC car in years! The (UK) "sanctioning body" tried a 2WD class back in the day - keeping costs down - but nobody was interested! [Sound familiar? ] Go visit your local hobby shop - It's amazing to me what's now available (pre built) for crazy cheap; Not just electric (still battery limited) but also gas powered. And I'd guess you'd be hard pushed to even *find* a 2WD! Cheers, Ian
With Ferrari S.P.A. now spun off from FCA and the World Stock Markets tanking, Ferrari shareholders in the future may demand that Ferrari leave F1, as all they care about is profit. Should that tragically happen, then Alfa Romeo is poised to gain entry into F1 Racing.
I think having Alfa in F-1 is great. He can buy Torro Rosso for a song, slap a badge on the car and Ferrari engine and voila be back in F-1 with some good drivers. I think badging the Ferrari engine as Alfa and then as Maserati or Lancia is a great idea.... they can sell them to WEC teams as well as F-1 and it preserves the Ferrari brand name in F-1. Same as Aston Martin coming in with Force India... using Merc engines.... the Brands that are needed are Ford - Cosworth, BMW and Toyota - as engine mfg.... then at least the F- 1 world would have some better spice. BMW - Sauber Toyota - Mannor Ford - Cosworth - Williams as for Alfa to me it makes perfect marketing sense, if they are going to come back in the USA with a 500BHP car... there has to be something behind it.
