Alfa’s title sponsorship for Sauber last year was the first major F1 engagement since the 1985 season.
This partnership should always be extended to a technical front so that Alfa, part of the Fiat group, which also includes Ferrari, can be more actively involved.
The team is inducted into the 2019 World Championship as Alfa Romeo Racing, reviving the factory entry that won its first F1 titles in 1950 and ’51.
It is not entirely a factory operation as Sauber’s ownership and management remain unchanged and independent of Alfa.
The cars, which will be driven by world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari test and development driver Antonio Giovinazzi in 2007, bear the four-leaf clover logo from Alfa, which identifies its high-performance vehicles.
Alfa Team Principal Frederic Vasseur said: “It is a pleasure to announce that we will enter the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship with the team name ‘Alfa Romeo Racing’.
“After our team started working with our title sponsor Alfa Romeo in 2018, it made fantastic progress on the technical, commercial and sporting side.
“This has motivated every team member, be it on the track or at the headquarters in Switzerland, as the hard work invested is reflected in our results.
“We want to develop every area of our team and at the same time advance our passion for racing, technology and design.”
The name Sauber has been on the F1 grid since 1993, even when it was bought by BMW and ran as a full works team from 2006 to 2009.
The team founded by Peter Sauber scored points in its debut season and every year thereafter, with the exception of a difficult 2014 season.
Problems continued to emerge in 2016 and 17, but new investments, hiring Vasseur as team principal and forging closer ties with Ferrari and then Alfa have all helped reinvigorate his fortune.
This means that Sauber was the team to be seen in Formula 1 this year, after having improved with modern Ferrari engines and improved technical effort in 2018, which earned it eighth place in the constructors’ championship.
Mike Manley, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, added: “Alfa Romeo Racing is a new name with a long history in Formula One.
“We are proud to partner with Sauber to bring Alfa Romeo’s tradition of technical excellence and Italian flair to the height of motorsport.
“Make no mistake: with Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi on one side of the pit wall and the expertise of Alfa Romeo and Sauber on the other, we are here to compete.”
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