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Alfa Romeo first linked up with Sauber in 2018 as a title sponsor before an expansion of the partnership saw the team become known as Alfa Romeo Racing from 2019 onwards.
Sauber announced last October that it had extended its agreement with Alfa Romeo for a further season, but team boss Frederic Vasseur is hopeful of continuing the partnership long-term.
Talks are ongoing with the newly-formed Stellantis group, which was created by the merger of the Fiat Chrysler Group - which owned Alfa Romeo - and the PSA Group.
“I think that we have a very good and positive discussion with them to extend the contract, and I hope that we will be [continuing],” Alfa Romeo F1 chief Vasseur told Autosport's sister publication Motorsport Italy.
“They have to reorganise a little bit the situation on their side [after the merger], but I am quite happy and quite positive with the last declaration of Stellantis about the brand Alfa Romeo.
"They want to be very supportive, and I think Alfa Romeo the brand is a huge asset for the group. It is a huge asset for F1 also at the end, because it's an iconic brand, that [was] in F1 from the beginning.
“I hope that we will be able to put everything together.”
Outside of F1, the partnership has seen Alfa Romeo harness Sauber Engineering’s technical abilities to assist its road car design with models such as the Giulia GTA and GTAm.
Asked about the role of external branches such as Sauber Engineering for smaller F1 squads, Vasseur felt it was an important area for the company to develop moving forward.
“It was one of the directions that we took in the last couple of months to develop the company - not just the team, but the company,” Vasseur said.
“It’s because that we have to capitalise on the asset of the F1 team to be able to develop external business. And it's a long process. It's not an easy one, because very often the F1 teams are not used to go on the ‘normal’ life!
“We had to change a little bit some mentality. But we are on the right way. We are growing up in Sauber on the third party business, and we are growing up quite quickly.
“I think quite soon, it will become a decent part of the income.”
Well, that article is wrong. Ferrari has not been a part of FCA/Stellantis for almost a decade now.
I'm still not getting Stellantis's strategy with Alfa Romeo. The car sales have fallen off a cliff. They only produced 54,000 cars worldwide last year. Speculation is that the Alfa F1 sponsorship costs $100 million. So that means each car sold would need to generate $1,851 that would feed back into the F1 sponsorship to at least break even. It makes no business sense to continue the F1 program unless they can improve the car sales. You'd think the F1 sponsorship would increase car sales, but the opposite is actually happening.
Sergio Marchionne was supposedly a big backer of Alfa Romeo and Antonio Giovinazzi. Unless Marchionne's successors at Stellantis are big fans of F1, I don't think this program can continue much longer. Maybe they will rebrand it as Jeep F1 Team?
Well, that article is wrong. Ferrari has not been a part of FCA/Stellantis for almost a decade now.
I'm still not getting Stellantis's strategy with Alfa Romeo. The car sales have fallen off a cliff. They only produced 54,000 cars worldwide last year. Speculation is that the Alfa F1 sponsorship costs $100 million. So that means each car sold would need to generate $1,851 that would feed back into the F1 sponsorship to at least break even. It makes no business sense to continue the F1 program unless they can improve the car sales. You'd think the F1 sponsorship would increase car sales, but the opposite is actually happening.
Sergio Marchionne was supposedly a big backer of Alfa Romeo and Antonio Giovinazzi. Unless Marchionne's successors at Stellantis are big fans of F1, I don't think this program can continue much longer. Maybe they will rebrand it as Jeep F1 Team?
Definitely agree with you on the first point, The 2nd point with the Alfa sponsorship is probably closer to $30M-40M. In 2019 it was suppose to have been $30M https://www.racefans.net/2019/12/27/...ysed-part-one/
Definitely agree with you on the first point, The 2nd point with the Alfa sponsorship is probably closer to $30M-40M. In 2019 it was suppose to have been $30M. https://www.racefans.net/2019/12/27/...ysed-part-one/
$30 million seems more right. Not that any ones knows for real. Even at $30million, that means each car produced would need to generate $600 that went back to the sponsorship. I'm not sure that Alfa Romeo is swimming in that kind of money. If I'm leading Alfa Romeo at Stellantis, I'd be very nervous at trying to explain this sponsorship to the board.
$30 million seems more right. Not that any ones knows for real. Even at $30million, that means each car produced would need to generate $600 that went back to the sponsorship. I'm not sure that Alfa Romeo is swimming in that kind of money. If I'm leading Alfa Romeo at Stellantis, I'd be very nervous at trying to explain this sponsorship to the board.
What's sad is Alfa Romero has a long heritage in F1 going back to the start of F1 Word Championship in 1950 with Farina and Fangio. They built their own car and engine, I even saw the 2nd resurgence (not successful though) of Alfa in the late 70's to mid 80's. Their little twin turbo 1.5L V8 was cool looking but not efficient. Now they just pay Sauber money to put their name on the side of the car, with a Sauber chassis and Ferrari motor. Sad
^ What was interesting is I didn't know that the mounting points of the PU to the monocouche bulkhead are to a FIA standard. Which I would image makes it easier to change engine vendor's
Pirelli is like Joe West inserting himself into baseball games and becoming the deciding factor. These failures shouldn't be happening like this. Good on RB for pressuring the race director to red flag it to allow teams to swap off the tires.
I wish teams still had the freedom to choose their tire supplier.
Last edited by civicdrivr; 06-06-2021 at 10:43 AM.
Not a household name, but was critical into financing the rebirth of McLaren in the 80's and at one time was the majority shareholder in McLaren.
Also was part of the inspiration of the McLaren F1, which was born in a airport terminal with Murray, Dennis, and Ojjeh brining forth the idea and concept.
Up until Dennis's last couple years at McLaren, the two of them were close.
Lewis Hamilton was looking good for second place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the very least as he lined up in that position on the grid for the Lap 50 restart – before he locked up at Turn 1 and sailed past race leader Sergio Perez down an escape road and out of the points entirely.
Immediately afterwards the Mercedes driver was heard over team radio asking his race engineer Pete Bonnington: "Did I have the magic on?"
"Yeah looks like it was knocked back on," came the reply, before Hamilton said: "Could've sworn I switched it off".
'Brake magic' is understood to be a setting used by Mercedes behind the Safety Car to help heat the brakes by altering, amongst other things, the brake bias settings.
And after the race the reigning world champion further explained how his restart had gone so wrong, on a day when his chief title rival Max Verstappen also failed to score points thanks to his late crash in Baku - which caused the red flag and restart in the first place.
"Just on the restart, I think when Checo [Perez] moved over towards me, I clicked a switch and it basically switches the brakes off, and I just went straight," he said. "I had no idea that I’d even touched it."
"So very hard to take, but mostly just really sorry to the men and women in the team who have worked so hard for these points, but we will regroup and come back stronger I’m sure.
"Obviously it’s quite a humbling experience to be honest. We’d worked so hard this weekend to come back out of the top 10 and it was looking so good. I put everything on the line and I fought as hard as I could today."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff – who saw his other driver Valtteri Bottas also come home out of the points in 12th – added: “It cannot be called a mistake. He [Hamilton] touched a button and the brake balance changed – it went right forward and obviously the car wouldn’t stop. It was a finger problem.”
Hamilton's anguish at missing out on points in Baku was perhaps slightly offset by the fact that Verstappen also failed to score.
"Very unfortunate for Max obviously," he said. "All I would say today is it was a good stroke of bad luck. It is what it is, we’ll try and regroup and come back stronger in the next race."
With both Hamilton and Bottas both finishing outside the top ten, Mercedes’ 54-race run of F1 points-finishes ended in Baku on Sunday. They leave Azerbaijan 26 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, Hamilton still four points behind Verstappen in the table.
As a result of the changes, team principal Mattia Binotto moves from the pitwall to the garage, but only because of the limited number of seven seating positions that teams are allowed.
While most team principals still watch track action from the pit wall, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has been in the garage for several years. Binotto is also not planning to be at all races this year, as previously announced.
Ferrari has put 26-year-old Briton Ravin Jain, who has been with the team since 2016, on to its strategy team. He will work alongside Inaki Rueda, who now has the sporting director job and head of strategy position.
"When we launched the new structure in February we said Laurent is taking the role as racing director," a Ferrari spokesman told Motorsport.com. "And Inaki Rueda was going to take the role of sporting director, while remaining the head of strategy.
"So for the first part of the season we've done a process where step-by-step Inaki was taking that responsibility, shadowing Laurent.
"Now this process has come to a point where he is fully in charge of that. And as racing director Laurent is overseeing everything that happens on the track side.
"The other novelty is that Ravin Jain will be in charge of strategy, and he will be on the pit wall."
Jain is an Oxford University graduate who has a first class degree in physics, and a distinction in a master's degree in mathematical and theoretical physics.
In 2013, he briefly had a summer job at Caterham working on data processing while still a student, and the following summer worked at Williams on software design in the strategy department.
He then had a third summer job at Ferrari in 2015, working on strategy and mathematical modelling, before joining the team in 2016 on finishing his studies.
"He is a very young engineer, and he was selected through the Ferrari Engineering Academy," said the team spokesman. "So in his way it's in parallel to the career that Charles [Leclerc] has had in the Driver Academy.
"We are happy that you can see that people can grow up in the team and take more and more responsibility. You can have an opportunity without having to come from different teams, and so on."
Formula 1 and race organisers have confirmed that this year’s Singapore Grand Prix will not take place, with organisers citing ongoing safety and logistic concerns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The race, on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, had been scheduled as round 16 of the 2021 championship, on October 1-3.
As previously stated, Formula 1 say they will continue to work with all promoters during this fluid time and have several options for additional races.
Baku '21, was what everyone was expecting for the inaugural race.
Lucky boys, Max & Lance. Had Max gone L instead of R, it would've been catastrophic to have hit that angled pit wall.
Damn what a race. Crazy the tire issue. So horrible. One is a fluke but two of the exact same times at basically the same mileage is nuts.
When was the last time neither Merc finished in the points? When Hamilton and Rosberg took each other out? Going to be such an exciting season the way things are shaping up with how close the RB and Merc are.
So happy Perez finally seems to understand the car. Very happy he got that win too.
Last I saw, Pirelli was claiming debris-induced tire failures.
Not sure on the last MB non-points where both cars finished the race.
Lewis had something like a 53 race run in the points (when he finished the race). I think is was 2013 when he last finished a race outside the points.
It’s now just six months until the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, and to celebrate, the race organisers have revealed new renderings of what the state-of-the-art pit and team building will look like.
Considered the heart of the circuit – set to be F1’s fastest ever street track – the building will overlook the starting grid and back on to Jeddah’s majestic Red Sea coast.
Designed by renowned Tilke architect, Ulrich Merres, the 280m-long, four-storey, cutting-edge structure takes the form of a composed landscape of multi-storey staggered buildings.
It will house all team garages as well as the race control centre and the exclusive Paddock Club premium hospitality suites, providing guests with a magnificent view down on to the pit lane and starting grid.
“We are delighted to share these exclusive renderings of our stunning Pit and Team Building with the world today,” said HRH Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF).
“The Pit Building stands as a symbol of all that this race represents: welcoming, modern and spectacular.
“With only six months to go until the pinnacle of motorsport reaches Saudi Arabia, preparations are progressing at an incredible rate as our dedicated team gears up for the first ever Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. We can’t wait to welcome you to Jeddah next December for a weekend of record-breaking racing and world class entertainment.”
Spa-Francorchamps is a notoriously intimidating circuit, even when it’s bone dry. Last weekend, it was most definitely not dry. It was flooding, actually.
Stavelot, the town in which Spa resides, got absolutely walloped with rain on Friday. So much so that a nearby river overflowed its banks, sending in water over the circuit’s fences down its main straight, just after the La Source hairpin, and pooling down into Eau Rouge. Not Raidillon, as I had to remind myself, but definitely Eau Rouge, so named for the stream that runs beneath it.
The damage was so profound that crews acted quickly to begin resurfacing the front straight and making other repairs over the weekend, according to officials from the Belgian circuit.
The track, at the level of the endurance grandstand, which due to the power of nature’s elements had been raised, is being re-laid. There is also damage to the sides of the track and a thorough cleaning operation is essential. The current of water not only brought water but also dragged a fair amount of soil and mud with it.
The stone walls in certain parts around the circuit have also been affected, among others at the level of the Eau Rouge, and at the exit of the ‘24 Hour pitlane.’ Here also the stone wall will be reinforced.
In addition, many areas of the Circuit have been flooded, among others the boxes and cellars, as also the Ster, Eau Rouge and Blanchimont tunnels.
Videos and the photo below shared to Twitter by Lotus Cup Europe team ES Motorsport illustrated just how bad the situation was. “Unfortunately we have just been told the weekend has been cancelled in Spa,” the team tweeted on Friday. “Gutted but the track and tunnels are falling apart.”
Not surprising that the race got canceled when you look at the track.
That’s just the water that flowed in from the banks outside the main grandstand. A geyser also formed within the pit lane, further contributing to the deluge from the opposite side of the track. For a region named after its immaculate mineral water, it does not look like water I’d want to drink.
As many racing fans will tell you, Spa and precipitation often go hand-in-hand, though not usually to this degree. When Spa is wet but not so wet as to prevent racing, bad things can happen. The track says “staff and the subcontractors are doing everything in their power” to ensure normal activities resume Tuesday.
Coincidentally, the 24 Hours of Nürburgring also transpired over the weekend, and the Nürburgring is located just 50 miles to the east of Spa. That race was postponed 14 hours from 9:30 p.m. local time until 11:40 a.m. the following morning due to a blanket of fog limiting visibility in parts of the 13-mile Nordschleife course. The result was the shortest-ever Nürburgring 24 Hours in the event’s history, though an adorable Dacia Logan finished the race so it wasn’t all bad.
Nikita Mazepin’s father Dmitry, has revealed that his son’s place on the Formula 1 grid is under threat due to mandatory military service.
Mazepin made his Formula 1 debut in 2021 with Haas, and it is safe to say that the rookie has made quite the impact since arriving.
The 22-year-old did already carry a reputation with him into Formula 1, and there has been a few further controversies in the opening rounds, with Mazepin’s team-mate Mick Schumacher the latest to take issue at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
That being said, Mazepin has begun to show signs of settling in at Haas, producing a decent performance at the Monaco Grand Prix, while Baku, generally, was also a step in the right direction.
This momentum though could be cut short, since mandatory military service back in his native Russia could be in his near future.
“Nikita has 23 races, and they tell him that he needs to join the army,” Mazepin’s father Dmitry told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“They told him he had to be present at the training camp regularly. There would be no exceptions.
“He has a race every two weeks. How does he do it? Who do I ask this question to?
“And I’m not talking about Nikita Mazepin alone but about everyone: athletes and professionals in the same situation. The issue of education and sports is relevant.”
Explaining the situation in Baku, Mazepin revealed that he has been studying at the military department for two years, and would like to become a reserve officer after his third year.
“In Russia, military service is compulsory for everyone who is fit for it,” he explained.
“There are two options. The first is that you graduate from university and serve for one year, and the second is the military department, if your physical training and academic results are good enough.
“In the case of the military department, you study one day a week to be a reserve officer. The training period is three years, but everything happens in the classroom.
“I have been studying at the military department for two years now, so there is another year ahead. After that, I would like to believe that I will become a reserve officer.”
George Russell has explained why he suddenly pulled out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of the formation lap for the race restart.
Baku’s sixth round of the 2021 World Championship boiled up into a two-lap shootout with a standing restart after a red-flag stoppage caused by a second big crash on the pits straight, leader Max Verstappen the victim of that to follow Lance Stroll earlier.
As the cars pulled into their grid slots, Russell headed off into the pit lane and out of the race, costing him a chance to gain that long-awaited first points finish for Williams which has now extended well into his third season with the team.
“I had a gearbox issue. I was just coming to the line and then no drive, no power,” said Russell, who reported the problem was different to one that had forced him into an early exit from free practice on the Saturday morning.
“Annoying…we were having a good race, the car felt fast, I felt comfortable and confident with it before the red flag, and then got the tyres in a really good window on the formation lap which would have paid dividends.
“It’s especially frustrating after so much anticipation building up before those final two laps. It wasn’t meant to be, and that’s racing sometimes.”
Nevertheless, again there were plusses Russell could take from the weekend as he secured his customary progress into Q2 and was even running just behind Valtteri Bottas, with whom he had that infamous collision at Imola in April.
“Another Q2, the car felt good in the race, so we’ve got to take the positives where we can and they definitely were them,” he added. “A shame to end like that.”
Russell, in contrast to his team-mate Nicholas Latifi, was given a two-stop strategy, which Williams’ head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson, explained.
“We tried a different strategy with George to get him some free air and an opportunity to pressure the cars ahead,” said Robson.
“Unfortunately, he couldn’t find enough pace on the hard tyres to make much progress even though the car was working reasonably well.
“However, having stopped for new tyres at the first Safety Car, he was in a good position as those ahead began to struggle on their older tyres.
“Unfortunately, the second Safety Car and subsequent race suspension gave all cars a chance to fit fresh tyres for the final two-lap sprint to the chequered flag.
“In the end, George was unable to take the race restart due to a suspected gearbox issue.”
The restructure of Williams, following the arrival of new owners Dorilton Capital, continues with news that Simon Roberts will leave the Formula 1 team, as CEO Jost Capito absorbs his Team Principal duties...
Roberts joined Williams last June in the newly-created role of Managing Director, before taking over as Acting Team Principal when the Williams family sold the team last August. That role as made permanent before Christmas, as he was charged with managing the transition.
Capito, who joined the team just over four months ago, has been conducting a review of the outfit, and after 100 days in charge has decided to complete an internal reorganisation to simplify the reporting structure, which means Roberts’ role as Team Principal – or Racing Director as it is known internally – no longer exists.
Capito will take on the role of Team Principal, while the trackside leadership duties held by Roberts will be transferred to Technical Director Francois-Xavier Demaison, putting him charge of technical aspects across the factory and race track.
“Simon has played an integral role in managing the transition over the last 12 months and I would like to thank him for his great contribution during that time,” said Capito.
Roberts added: “It has been a pleasure to take on the role of Team Principal following the departure of the Williams family from the sport. However, with the transition well underway I am looking forward to a new challenge and wish everyone in the team well for the future.”
The move brings to an end a whirlwind 12 months at Williams for Roberts, who joined the outfit after nearly 17 years at McLaren as Operations Director and then Chief Operating Officer.
It became a huge role, following the departure of Sir Frank and Claire Williams, with him looking after the day-to-day running of the team across the technical, operations and planning functions at a time of significant change. It remains unclear what his future plans are.
^^ won't surprise me an announcement from Haas they're leaving F1. Same for Alpine and Alfa.
despite the aero changes for 2021, it really hasn't changed the racing much. Looks like most teams are using a "Z" floor now to alleviate the tapered floor reg's which has not proved that effective of leveling the field.
Haas > Mazepin F1
Alfa > Back to Sauber
Alpine > ??? > Geely buy in with a Lotus F1 resurgence?
I'd agree with the first two scenarios.
What's your thinking with Geely taking over Alpine? From all indications, Renault is fully backing Alpine F1. It would be interesting if Geely decides to come into F1, either branding the team as Geely or even Volvo.
06-03-2021, 06:51 AM
They even had Max kicking the tires and Perez getting into the safety car at the end.
won't surprise me an announcement from Haas they're leaving F1. Same for Alpine and Alfa.
Just a guess, with the prior Lotus > Renault > Alpine evolution.
