Sauber partners with Stellantis to extend Alfa Romeo F1 deal

Alfa Romeo first teamed up with Sauber as title sponsor in 2018, before the team became known as Alfa Romeo Racing through an expansion of the partnership from 2019.

Sauber announced last October that it had extended his contract with Alfa Romeo for another season, but team principal Frederic Vasseur hopes to continue the partnership over the long term.

Talks are ongoing with the newly founded Stellantis Group, which was created through the merger of the Fiat Chrysler Group – to which Alfa Romeo belonged – and the PSA Group.

“I think we have a very good and positive conversation with them to extend the contract and I hope we will [continuing]“, Said Alfa Romeo F1 boss Vasseur of the sister publication of Autosport Motorsport Italy.

“You need to rearrange the situation a bit on your side [after the merger], but with Stellantis’ last statement about the Alfa Romeo brand, I am quite happy and very positive.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo Racing C41

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

“They want to be very supportive and I think the Alfa Romeo brand is a great asset to the group. It’s also a huge perk for F1 in the end because it’s an iconic brand that [was] in F1 from the start.

“I hope we can bring it all together.”

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced in May that the group is determined to continue investing in Alfa Romeo for the next 10 years, despite the fact that it now has 14 brands under its umbrella.

Sources told Motorsport.com in January that Sauber would continue its technical partnership with Ferrari – also a Stellantis brand – through 2025, ending proposals to become a Renault partner team.

Outside of Formula 1, through the partnership, Alfa Romeo has used the technical capabilities of Sauber Engineering to support its street car design with models such as the Giulia GTA and GTAm.

When asked about the role of external branches such as Sauber Engineering for smaller F1 teams, Vasseur considered this to be an important area for the further development of the company.

“This has been one of the directions we’ve taken over the past few months to develop the company – not just the team, but the company,” said Vasseur.

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“Because we have to use the F1 team’s capital to develop external business. And it’s a long process. It is not easy, because very often the F1 teams are not used to leading their “normal” life!

“We had to change the mentality a bit. But we are on the right track. At Sauber, we grow up in third-party business, and we grow up pretty quickly.

“I think soon it will be a decent part of the income.”