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Berlin - Alfa Romeo on Wednesday announced its return to Formula One racing after more than three decades.

The iconic Italian automaker signed a multi-year partnership agreement with Swiss Sauber F1 Team for participation in the F1 world championship beginning with the 2018 season. The team's official name will be Alfa Romeo Sauber F1. The cars will sport the distinctive colours and logo of Alfa Romeo and will be powered by 2018 Ferrari power units.

Alfa Romeo is part of the Fiat Chrysler group (FCA) which also includes Ferrari. The marque won the first two F1 world titles in 1950 and 1951 and later was an engine supplier for several teams before withdrawing in 1985.

A storied brand that has helped make the history of this sport, Alfa Romeo will join other major automakers that currently participate in F1 including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren and Renault.

"This agreement with the Sauber F1 Team is a significant step in the reshaping of the Alfa Romeo brand, which will return to Formula 1 after an absence of more than 30 years," FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said.

Sauber chairman Pascal Picci said: "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."

Sauber has been in F1 since 1993 but has struggled lately, finishing tenth and last in the 2017 season which ended on Sunday.

Pascal Picci, Chairman of Sauber Holding AG, commented: "We are very pleased to welcome Alfa Romeo to the Sauber F1 Team. 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.

"Working closely with a car manufacturer is a great opportunity for the Sauber Group to further develop its technology and engineering projects. We are confident that together we can bring the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team great success, and look forward to a long and successful partnership."

Alfa Romeo is known around the world for its racing heritage. The marque participated in Formula 1 from 1950 to 1988, both as a constructor and engine supplier. Immediately upon its debut, Alfa Romeo won the first two drivers' world championships, in 1950 and 1951, with drivers Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio.

From 1961 to 1979, Alfa Romeo participated as engine supplier to several F1 teams. Following its return as a constructor in 1979, Alfa Romeo achieved its best result in 1983, taking sixth place in the constructors' championship.

In 1970 Peter Sauber founded his company and designed his first racing car in the cellar of his parents' house. The race team grew steadily and enjoyed its first major international successes in the late 1980s. As the Mercedes works team, Sauber celebrated a one-two victory in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1989 and back-to-back Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles in the World Sports Car Championship in 1989 and 1990.

In 1993 Sauber entered Formula One. Among the team's F1 highlights have been a fourth-place finish in the F1 constructors' championship in 2001 as an independent team and - in partnership with BMW - a one-two finish in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix on the way to third place in the constructors' standings that year.

In 2010 Sauber became an independent outfit once again, and had a very good year in 2012 headlined by four podium finishes and sixth place in the constructors' standings.

The team has yet to announce its 2018 line-up, which is expected to be Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson.

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Formula 1 has lost a major blue-chip sponsor as Spanish-based financial giant Banco Santander confirmed it will end its agreement with Ferrari after eight seasons.

Santander, which has announced a three-year deal to back the UEFA Champions League, will also end its association with the F1 organisation. That has included taking the title sponsorship of several races over the years, including the British Grand Prix from 2007 to 2014, and the Spanish GP from 2011-13.

The company's relationship with Ferrari began in 2010 alongside Fernando Alonso's arrival.

Santander has also enjoyed a long association with McLaren, starting in 2007 when Alonso first joined the team.

But in recent seasons McLaren's deal was only with Santander UK plc, and was a relatively minor one that was closely linked to Jenson Button's involvement - with no branding on the actual cars.

Confirmation that such a big name is leaving the championship will come as a blow to F1 owner Liberty Media on the same day that Alfa Romeo announced that it is stepping up its involvement from small stickers on the Ferraris to full title sponsorship and a technical partnership at Sauber.

In a statement Santander said that at the end of 2017 it "will conclude its successful sponsorship of the Formula 1 racing team, Scuderia Ferrari, which it has supported for the last eight seasons.

"The bank will also conclude its corporate sponsorship agreements with F1, which have helped increase Santander's brand recognition around the world over the last 11 years."

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Pirelli is confident that Formula 1 will return to two-stop races next year, following positive early testing of its 2018 tyres in Abu Dhabi this week.

F1's tyre supplier is expanding its range of compounds, as well as making them softer, in a bid to try to introduce more strategic variance next season.

This year, because of uncertainty about the speed leap of F1's faster 2017 cars, Pirelli went too conservative - and it meant 15 of the 20 races were in effect one-stop races.

One of Pirelli's targets is for there to be an average of two tyre changes per race.

It believes that in light of some encouraging findings from the testing this week, it is now on course to deliver that next season.

Pirelli's F1 racing manager Mario Isola said: "Considering all the range is one step softer, plus we have the hyper-soft, we now have the option to go soft enough to target two stops.

"I believe that three stops is a bit too much because we know it can be a bit confusing to have too many stops.

"We will try to make the selection of having two stops or one of the fastest strategies a two-stop.

"There is another advantage - with more compounds and a softer step, you give the teams the possibility to design the car that is more gentle on the tyres, so you can push the tyre towards the softer side.

"This is an additional variable that is up to the teams, and we give to everybody the same opportunity."

The Abu Dhabi test was the first time that drivers tried the new hyper-soft compound, with world champion Lewis Hamilton claiming it was the best tyre that Pirelli had produced since it returned to F1.


Sebastian Vettel was equally complimentary about the tyre, saying he was surprised by how much of a step forward it was.

"It's always nice to go fast, and the hyper-soft is quite a step forward," said the Ferrari driver.

"It's faster, so obviously now we need to see. Fairly soon Pirelli will have to decide where we'll be able to bring it and where we are not."

Isola explained that the hyper-soft had proven to be one-second per lap quicker than the ultra-soft, which in itself was 0.4s faster than the super-soft.

Pirelli is on schedule to decide the tyre compounds it will take to the Australian Grand Prix by December 7.

It is possible that it could pick three varied compounds, as it does not have to take three that are consecutive in its range.

"We are allowed to jump one step - so we are not obliged to go with the soft, super-soft and ultra-soft for example," added Isola.

"We will tune the compounds' choice and selection to make sure we can generate different strategies.

"The average number of pitstops should be two. This is the target. We want alternative strategies."

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Formula 1’s grid penalty system will be tweaked for next season, the FIA has announced, in a bid to make things less confusing for fans.

There has been growing unease about the extent of grid penalties this year, with F1 motorsport director Ross Brawn claiming recently that they were making a ‘farce’ of the sport.

The situation has become even more tense because of concerns that penalties could increase next year because F1 is going down to three engines for the season.

Following discussion at the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday, a new structure was announced that should get rid of the headaches fans have faced in trying to work out final grids when a host of penalties have been handed out.

From now on, any driver that earns more than a 15-place grid penalty - which is the equivalent of taking three extra new elements for the first time - will have to start from the back of the grid.

A statement issued by the FIA said: “The change to the power unit penalty system was also approved, whereby if a driver incurs a penalty exceeding 15 grid places he will be required to start the race from the back of the starting grid.

“If more than one driver receives such a penalty they will be arranged at the back of the grid in the order in which the offences were committed.”

The FIA also said that other changes were being put into the regulations for 2018.

These include:

• Regulations relating to procedures for starting or resuming a race behind the safety car.
• Changing the event timetable to increase flexibility.
• Ensuring that testing of previous cars may only take place on tracks currently holding an FIA Grade 1 or 1T licence.
• Provision for demonstration events in previous cars which does not constitute testing. No such demonstrations may exceed 50km in length and only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier may be used.
• Changes to ensure that oil cannot be used as fuel.
• Introduction of a detailed specification for oil.
• A minimum weight and volume for energy storage (batteries).
• Changes to position of cameras and wing mirrors to accommodate the Halo.

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Honda have announced changes to the structure of its F1 project team, as the Japanese company prepares to switch its F1 engine supply from Honda to Toro Rosso for the 2018 F1 season.

From the start of next year the position of Head of Formula 1 Project will be eliminated, and research and development responsibilities will be separated from racing and testing.

The latter will now be overseen by Toyoharu Tanabe in the newly-created role of F1 Technical Director.

Tanabe, currently Senior Manager and Race Team Chief Engineer at Honda Performance Development, has extensive F1 experience with Honda and was chief engineer to Jenson Button earlier in his career.

Yusuke Hasegawa, previously Honda’s overall F1 chief, will become Executive Chief Engineer and Head of F1 Project.

“In the past, the Head of F1 Project assumed responsibility in both technological development and directing the team at the spot of racing,” commented Katsuhide Moriyama, Honda’s Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations.

“By separating these areas of responsibility, we will evolve our structure so that both the development team and racing/testing team can assume their respective responsibilities more speedily.

“By ensuring both the development team and racing team soundly fulfil their respective roles, Honda will continue its challenges so that fans can enjoy seeing Toro Rosso-Honda competing at the top level without further delay.”

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Jean Todt has been re-elected as President of F1’s governing body, the FIA, for a third successive term.

The Frenchman, who was first elected to the position in 2009 as a successor to Max Mosley, was voted into office unanimously by acclamation and by a show of hands at the organisation’s General Assembly in Paris, having stood unopposed.

The new mandate will see Todt, 71, continue to develop the global federation of Motorsport and Mobility organisations until the end of 2021.

“It is gratifying to have such universal support,” said Todt. “I would like to thank all of the Member Clubs of the FIA for their support. I see this as a validation of the direction the FIA has taken under my leadership, and as encouragement to continue the programme we have pursued over the past eight years.”

Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, added: "Our warmest congratulations from all of us at Formula 1 to Jean on the occasion of his re-election to the presidency of the FIA.

“We value greatly the leadership and consistency he has shown since we have started working together and look forward to a constructive and fruitful relationship in the months and years to come."

Todt’s career in motorsport stretches back to the 1960s, the Frenchman having first acted as a rally co-driver before moving into management roles. Having led Peugeot to World Rally Championship and Park-Dakar success, Todt then moved to F1 with Ferrari where he played a pivotal role in reviving the Scuderia’s fortunes, guiding the team to six drivers’ and seven constructors’ titles between 1999 and 2007 in his role as team principal.

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Haas could link up with the Italian carmaker Maserati for 2018.

Days ago, it became official that Ferrari-powered Sauber's new title sponsor would be Alfa Romeo, a Fiat owned luxury car manufacturer.

And now, Italian newspapers including Corriere della Sera say another Fiat brand could now follow Alfa into F1.

Fiat Chrysler president Sergio Marchionne is said to be in advanced negotiations with another Ferrari-powered F1 team, Haas, about a Maserati title sponsorship deal.

The report said talks with Gene Haas are currently taking place, even though the American businessman is not commenting.

When asked about the Maserati rumours a few days ago, Marchionne said: "We will see. Time will tell.

"We are thinking about it, but we have not made any decision yet," he added.

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