Alfa Romeo eyes F1 (2nd Update)

Mario Andretti in the 1981 Alfa Romeo 179c at Monaco

UPDATE Few constructors are more important to the history of Grand Prix racing than Alfa Romeo, but the Italian automaker hasn't participated in F1 in over 30 years. Fiat Chrysler and Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne wants to change that, but don't get your hopes up.

Speaking to Italian publication Repubblica, Marchionne said he wants to bring Alfa Romeo back to F1 as a driver development team for Ferrari. This isn't the first time Marchionne has suggested Alfa reenter F1, as he made similar comments to the press nearly a year ago.

"Alfa Romeo in F1 could become fine breeding ground for young Italian drivers," said Marchionne, as translated by Autosport. "The best one, [Antonio] Giovinazzi, is already with us, but there are others besides him, and they are struggling to find room."

Marchionne believes that an Alfa Romeo F1 team would be better suited for drivers like Giovinazzi, who is serving as Ferrari's reserve driver in 2017, than customer teams like Haas and Sauber. Alfa Romeo F1 would also leverage Ferrari technology and engines for its cars, helping offset costs. Even with Ferrari's help, though, an Alfa Romeo F1 entry would be expensive–something Marchionne is well aware of.

"There is room for an Alfa Romeo return, possibly as a collaboration with Ferrari," said Marchionne. "Not now, though, because Alfa must first make money through sales of the Giulia and the Stelvio."

That's the critical component here. The Giulia, in 505-hp Quadrifoglio form, is a top-notch sports sedan, and the Stelvio sounds promising, but is that enough to generate sales? Alfa's road cars need to succeed in the U.S. and China, where it doesn't have nearly the same level of name recognition as its luxury competitors.

In other words, don't get too excited for an Alfa Romeo F1 return until one of its cars is on the grid. Chris Perkins/Road & Track

02/15/16 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne says Alfa Romeo could return to formula one as a works team.

Earlier, the Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler chief flagged the possibility of the return to F1 of the iconic name, suggesting it could supply an engine to a partner team.

In the words of La Gazzetta dello Sport correspondent Pino Allievi, what ensued was nothing short of "chaos" amid the frenzied speculation.

"Chaos? We can call it by its name: interest," Marchionne says now.

"At a time of stability in the FCA (Fiat Chrysler) group, Alfa Romeo should be reiterated as a sports brand and consider the possibility to race in formula one.

"How? Probably in collaboration with Ferrari," he said.

Asked which existing F1 team Alfa Romeo would partner with, Marchionne clarified: "No, Alfa Romeo is capable of making a chassis, just as it is capable of doing the engine."

He said he would also like other carmakers to enter F1, such as Volkswagen's Audi.

"From what I know they were quite ready," revealed Marchionne. "Then came the Volkswagen (emissions) chaos."

Foremost in Marchionne's mind at present, however, is positioning Ferrari as a title-winning F1 marque, some eight years after Kimi Raikkonen won the last world championship in red.

"Generally speaking," he said, "if there was a continuity of failure in the F1 races, this would have impacted on the brand.

"I was talking to one of our dealers and we agreed that the partial success as was the case in 2015 gave a great deal of reinvigoration to the brand.

"But losing for ten years in a row would be a tragedy, a Greek tragedy," Marchionne insisted.

Sergio Marchionne (R) knows if he puts Alfa Romeo on the F1 grid that really is two more Ferrari cars to gather data and test new bits

02/12/16

Sergio Marchionne has hinted that Alfa Romeo could return to Formula 1 for the first time since the late 1980's as its own team, in order to promote the brand as part of plans to turn the company's fortunes around.

The Alfa Romeo name almost made a return this season as an engine supplier to Red Bull. Talks between Marchionne and the Milton Keynes-based team were at an advanced stage which would have seen Ferrari's 2015 power unit rebranded under the Alfa Romeo name and supplied to Red Bull.

However the deal broke down as Red Bull rejected the idea of running year-old engines and chose to remain with Renault, but rebrand the engines under TAG Heuer.

According to Marchionne, reviving Alfa Romeo's F1 return might not be dead, as the Italian has set out a plan which would include the company designing its own chassis and partnering with Ferrari to run rebranded engines.

"In order to restore their name they must consider returning to Formula 1," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Alfa Romeo are capable of making their own chassis, just like they are capable of making their own engine," he said, but suggested a deal to use Ferrari engines was more likely, adding: "They would probably work with Ferrari."

Marchionne then dismissed rumors Alfa Romeo could race in Le Mans, saying: "I would rather see them in F1."