From Motorsport Magazine, this would be great if it happens’ Alfa Romeo’s F1 return? Sergio Marchionne could be about to bring Alfa Romeo to F1 Sergio Marchionne, boss of Fiat-Chrysler and Ferrari, has made no secret of his desire to bring the Alfa Romeo name back to F1. He has also suggested that he sees Sauber – currently merely a Ferrari engine customer in F1 – as potentially a Ferrari junior team in which Ferrari’s young drivers can be given F1 experience. So perhaps it’s just a case of observers adding one and one together to come up with three, but there would seem a strong logic – at least from the perspective of Marchionne – of bringing those two aims together. So is Fiat-Chrysler about to buy out Sauber and rebrand the Swiss-based team as Alfa Romeo? That’s the strong rumour doing the rounds. Current Ferrari junior driver and F2 champion Charles Leclerc is already in line for a full-time 2018 drive with the Hinwil team, regardless of what it is called. But the second seat is currently being fought over by the incumbent Marcus Ericsson – sponsored by the parent company of the team’s current owners – and Antonio Giovinazzi, another of Ferrari’s juniors. A further incentive for Marchionne to bring the Alfa name back would be the extra weight it would lend in negotiations with Liberty regarding the post-2020 commercial agreement. It pales alongside the power of the Ferrari brand itself, but is still a major-league name that would bring great prestige to the sport. There would be a certain historical irony in the fact that Ferrari was born out of Alfa Romeo, but that may be lost on the hard-headed Ferrari CEO and Chairman. Any Alfa Romeo-badged engine would almost certainly be a Ferrari in all-but-name and it would remain to be seen how much further technical collaboration there might be in any such arrangement. Extra budget and technical expertise would potentially lift Sauber above its current tail-end status. Its facilities – built up when the team was owned by BMW – are beyond those of many of the teams above it in the constructors’ championship, implying improvements could be made relatively quickly. Were it to happen, it would mark Alfa’s first appearance in F1 since 1985, when a Benetton-sponsored team run by Euroracing (but carrying the Alfa name) fielded Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever. __________ Read more in the Motor Sport app __________
It's possible. Ferrari wants a jr team like Torro Rosso to develop people and drivers. Of course Alfa will never be allowed to beat Ferrari so that's the downside
Another spin would be that Alfa will be the way for Ferrari to ease out of F1 and perhaps go racing in Formula E with Porsche and Mercedes. Alfa would become the team badge name (a Fiat company) and Ferrari would be the engine supplier (much as Mercedes looks to be planning). Ferrari is already the engine supplier to the top of the line Alfa road car...as it is with Maserati. Putting the F1 costs and competitive responsibility on Alfa (a failing brand name) also gives Ferrari an alibi for future F1 failures. F1 is destined to go the way of Indy Car...a spec racing sport for the last days of the internal combustion engine. The new battery technology that is just five years away will leave vintage car events as the only market for gasoline. On a side note, the Alfa reentry into the US market is rapidly heading for failure as unsold 2017 cars fill the dealerships and 2018 models are held in storage. At some sooner than later point Fiat Chrysler will be bought by either the Chinese or the Arabs...or maybe a co-venture by both. Their factories will be quickly converted into making electric vehicles with a single brand of electronic power unit. If you are heavily invested in gasoline powered cars...collectible and high end models...now might be the time to take your profits and get out. Never be the last to leave the party.
On the other hand they've also threatened that they'll leave the sport...and he's been saying he's spend all the money he wants to spend on F1. My thinking is more an engine sponsor type deal and team Rebranded ''Alfa Romeo-Sauber" much like when it was BMW-Sauber in the late 00's.
This makes no sense. Just rename the team Alfa. Mercedes did it from Brawn. Many teams have changed names. Why buy another team just to close one. It makes no sense.
Why buy them? The PUs and drivers supply deal is perfect for Ferrari/Alfa and they can still use the Sauber/Alfa moniker. Why add another team and have to find new sponsors when even Red Bull is trying to sell their second money-losing team?
Wow. Thats a very gloomy future you are predicting. In 5 years the new battery powered vehicles will cause most oil refineries to shutdown bc , as you predict, gasoline will only be sold to vintage and collector cars. What a powerfull crystal ball.
The internal combustion engine is going to be around for quite some time. All that is going to happen is it will be refined to become more powerful and fuel efficient. As much as we hate the current V-6 Hybrid power units of today's F1, the technology is starting to trickle into production automobiles. Mazda is introducing there Skyactiv X HCCI engine in 2019 that is using a spark ignited pre chamber to light off the lean mixture inside the main combustion chamber. We are going to start to see more hybrid turbos on production cars, as well as hybrid technology where the electric motor is used to bring the vehicle up to speed from a stop only to have the internal combustion engine take over at cruise speeds where it is more efficient and allows for battery recharge. The electric motor kicks in when there is need power to pass or climb hills. A lot of items on our modern cars came out of F1 technology. Anti Lock Brakes Traction Control Tire Pressure Monitoring Drive by Wire trhrottles Direct injection Dual Clutch Transmissions The list goes on................. As for Alfa's slow sales they just came back into the US market as a "Premium" brand it will take a little bit of time to develop there foothold in the Market. F1 branding of a team can only help out on that front.
None of the technology you mention rates as "progress" in my book. I prefer a mechanical throttle cable, I already know how to modulate brakes in a threshold situation, I check my tires myself, I prefer the dance and seduction of a manual gearbox where I use my left foot to engage the clutch, traction control is a skill not a technology, and direct injection also has its problems. The last time Alfa was a premium brand was in the 1930s. Just saying it doesn't make it so. And using Chrysler Fiat dealers isn't going to help them.
It isn't a crystal ball, it is just reading the technology. Post-lithium ion batteries will not use liquid, will have a range of at least 500 miles and will recharge in one minute. If the recharge time seems too optimistic then you don't understand the next generation of batteries. I personally love gasoline and the internal combustion engine. And I don't think electric cars are that truly environmentally friendly. But the future is the future. The transition from horse to car happened in shocking speed. The change from gas to electric cars will be a hundred times quicker. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will look like a Pony Express race. The oil refineries won't go out of business. They will still be making the fuel that powers the utility companies that will provide for the increased demand in electricity to power the grid and charge all our cars. But I doubt there will be anything such as a "classic electric car"...they will be like old toasters...kept by a few eccentrics but thrown away by most. However private clubs and organizations may own small private refineries dedicated to making fuel for collector cars. Another issue will be if they are allowed on public roads, or restricted to closed courses.
Even though I agree with you, and find myself in the same boat, that market you've described is .0001% of a subset of a subset... and will only be catered to by those that expand the tech to mass market so they may afford to cater to our niche in the future. Unfortunately, its up to us to continue that tradition, when the masses prefer Ipod connect-ability to pedal feel. "Progress" itself is removing human error and refining the end product such that there is no fault, beyond human capability, while appealing to nonsensical ideologies that "fossil fuel = BAD!" I would LOVE to see Alfa as a self sufficient (albeit bought and payed for) team. That would be awesome.
I prefer simple and basic as well. I prefer mechanical throttle control as well, I was forced to limp along into Grand Junction, CO last New Years Eve after a contact failed on the TPS on my Silverado. But the fact is the General public wants a car packed to the gills with technology like nav systems for the directionally challenged, DVD players to keep the kids quiet, Lane departure warnings and auto braking so the driver can update there status on Facebook while driving home in rush hour. If the Auto manufactures really want to improve safety they need to create a body that is a RF shield to prevent the use of a smart phone, remove the cup holders and have a system that injects ADHD meds to keep the driver focused.....
I like manual controlled cars! That is why I have a Hot rod and a TR. Learned to drive over 50 years ago, I don't need help!
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ericsson-sauber-ferrari-junior-team-talks-my-main-worry-981821/ What kind of satisfaction would he get from being constantly at the very back of the field and being sorely beaten by his teammate anyway?
I read a while ago that the latest cars from Alfa were make or break ! If they don't sell, sadly Alfa could be wiped out. If it's that precarious ...why spend money you havn't got (or what the Italian government thinks it's got) on Formula 1 ? Ferrari keeps threatening to quit as it is. Apart from which..Formula 1 cars running on electric motors.?? I wouldn't want to have to sell the tickets to watch that. Watching paint dry, doesn't sound so bad after all.....and about as quiet.
Make or break? Not true. Actually Alfa sales are growing quite a bit. Already Ferrari F1 cars have Alfa logos on them. I can see FCA putting up the money to buy an F1 team for them and use them as a Jr team.
Oh come on. You don't think Ferrari's direct involvement would be any better than this little team can do? In addition, Sauber will get front line engines unlike Haas.
If Eriksson will still be driving for them it means Ferrari has not become fully involved and pretty sure Sauber will be at the back of the grid again. Haas will get same engines as Sauber.
Longbow finance would exit the investment anyway, so FCA buying Sauber makes sense. I am just afraid that in the future it might mark the end of their presence in Switzerland. Knowing how Mr Accountant thinks, he will probably relocate it to a chepaer country.
Interesting thought. Not sure that matters terribly as the Sauber operation isn't that big and the difference in top salaries between Italy and Switzerland isn't that great. I could see however that they would like to combine infrastructure and its expenses by e.g. sharing wind tunnels etc. Then again if they get too close to each other they won't be two teams anymore. Red Bull and Toro Rosso never consolidated their environments so I can imagine Mr Sweater might leave the factory in Hinwil alone. There are also financial benefits of having the company in tax friendly Switzerland. While Hinwil is the canton of Zurich, it is only about a half hour drive away from the lowest tax canton Zug
My first two cars were a '69 Beetle and a '74 X1/9, so driving a manual is second nature to me. I won't give that up until I have to, but I must admit that I'm very interested in the coming electrics. With solid state batteries that recharge in a minute on the way, that "game changer" is on the immediate horizon. I don't think the infrastructure will take all that long to put into place either, as where there's demand, the market will supply it. One of the coolest things, to me, would be to have a charger in your garage! Imagine not ever even needing a gas station for your electric grocery getter. I also want a two-wheel-drive electric motorcycle.
I’d prefer having Alfa back in the fray and returning to their usual grid positions ( per the 80’s) at the back of the field rather than Kia or Chery or Tata. Maybe have Patrese wandering around as a spokesman/cheerleader a la Niki.
Totally agree. That Alfa Brabham sucked but it was still Alfa. While I love "my" little Swiss team and the cachet of the Sauber name, I wouldn't mind if they became 100% Alfa. Or "just" Sauber-Alfa is ok for starters too. If the merger/buy out happens, Ericsson might be out of a seat as Ferrari, err Alfa would like to have Giovanazzi next to Leclerq.
