Fiat CEO and Ferrari President Sergio Marchionne has repeated his desire to see the company’s Alfa Romeo brand make a return to Formula 1 in a junior team capacity.
Speaking during the media Christmas function at Maranello, Marchionne said, “Alfa Romeo could become the grooming ground for young Italian drivers. The best of them, Antonio Giovinazzi, is already under contract, but there are others. Many of them lack seats. We could create these seats through Alfa Romeo.”
“I have already discussed how this could be developed with technical manager Mattia Binotto and team chief Maurizio Arrivabene.”
But added, “Time and place must be right. We must wait a little longer. The problem is that we are financially bound by the ongoing presentations of our new models – the Giulia and the Stelvio. We have to wait a little, but I really hope we will return to F1 with the brand one day.”
Around this time last year Marchionne gave wind of his plans, “It’s incredible how the Alfa marque remains in people’s hearts. For that very reason we are thinking about bringing it back, as our competitor, to racing, to Formula One. It’s important for Alfa to return.”
In April he added, “F1 is the maximum technological expression of the automotive world and so considering the objectives of Alfa Romeo, I think the option should be considered. The Alfa myth was born with racing and F1, and somehow we have to get back there.”
Ferrari’s late founder Enzo Ferrari started out racing and managing a team for Alfa Romeo before setting up on his own in the late 1930s.
The first two Formula One world championships in 1950 and 1951 were won by Italian Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio in the legendary Alfa Romeo 158 and 159, also remembered fondly as the Alfetta.
The company supplied engines in the 1960s and 1970s and returned as a constructor in 1979 before again withdrawing at the end of 1985.
Since Marchionne’s statements about the marque there have been reports linking Alfa Romeo to Sauber and even Red Bull, while the car logo adorns the Ferrari F1 sidepods.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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