For a self-proclaimed Alfisti such as myself, seeing the Alfa Romeo name make a return to Formula 1 was quite a tearful moment. For much of motorsports from the early to mid-20th-century, Alfa Romeo was a dominant force to be reckoned with. Deep red paint and green clovers won everything from regional grand prix, Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, and the first F1 championship ever held.
But its recent re-entry into F1 back in 2018, along with their technical partners over at Sauber Motorsport, hasn’t been as successful. However, there’s some hope that Alfa-Sauber’s relationship might finally bear fruit… Some day. There’s at least more time on the table to make it happen now. Both Alfa Romeo and Sauber have extended their partnership in a multi-year agreement.
A Constructor’s Win?
This renewal means that we’ll get to see a lot more of Alfa Romeo on the F1 calendar for the 2022 season and onwards. Could we finally see the team move further up the rankings from its current near-bottom place (beaten only by an unpredictable and tail-happy Haas)? Well, it’s hard to tell, even with talents like Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen entering the fray.
F1’s 2022 season will be a pivotal one, at that. Huge changes have been made to the regulations of the cars themselves, more so than in the last few years. In a nutshell, everything is all in the name of seeing drivers get closer to each other, and stay there for longer. Overall, it might make for some exciting racing to come, perhaps a bit of that wheel-to-wheel heart-stopping action from F1 of old.
Alfa Romeo’s work with Sauber has at least borne some results in the real world. We’ve finally got to see the Giulia GTA and GTAm in action at Goodwood, showing off some of Alfa’s aero learnings in F1.