Alfa Romeo’s time in Formula 1 can be counted depending on the above decisions after the merger between Fiat and Peugeot.
The brand name returned to the sport as a sponsor for Sauber in 2018 before the team was renamed Alfa Romeo Racing at the start of the 2019 season.
It is now unclear whether this will also be the case in the future. Fiat, the owners of Alfa, merge with Peugeot to form the new automaker Stellantis.
According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, the brand’s sporting activities that it owns will be reviewed in the near future.
“In the plans of the new global auto giant resulting from the merger of FCA and PSA, the sporting activity of the brands of the group will also be redefined,” he said Italian publication specified.
“It starts with the biscione (Alfa Romeos logo), which has been a sponsor of the Sauber Ferrari team since 2018.
“Whether the historic brand will stay in Formula 1 depends on the new industrial plans resulting from the merger, which was announced on January 4th after more than a year of negotiations.”
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While the exclusion of Alfa Romeo from the sport would not necessarily mean that the Sauber team would also leave the grid, team boss Frederic Vasseur said that the support of the Italian brand for the outfit after the announcement of the continuation of the partnership was “crucial” for 2021.
“That is crucial for us,” he told Motorsport.com.
“I don’t want to talk about the financial side of the matter, although it certainly does matter. But it’s also the motivation a team gets and the fact that you can attract more people and let the company grow for the future. We need that kind of inner motivation.
“The fact that Alfa Romeo, the first world champion in F1 history, wants to expand our collaboration with us is not only a reward, but also the next step for our company.”
The team is a feeder team for in many ways Ferrari in its current form, with the Scuderia delivering its engine and a driver in Antonio Giovinazzi and being able to swap it with another of their talents if they so wish.
With that in mind, it would be in their best interests if the Alfa Romeo name stayed at the start line in the future.
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The post The merger casts doubt on Alfa Romeo’s F1 future – report first appeared on monter-une-startup.
