Alfa Romeo Racing
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Italian motor manufacturer
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
has participated many times in
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
. It currently participates as Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen while being operated by Sauber Motorsport AG. The brand has competed in motor racing as both a constructor and engine supplier sporadically between and , and later as a commercial partner since . The company's works drivers won the first two World Drivers' Championships in the pre-war Alfetta:
Nino Farina Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...
in 1950 and
Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
in . Following these successes, Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula One. During the 1960s, although the company had no official presence in the top tier of motorsport, several Formula One teams used independently developed Alfa Romeo engines to power their cars. In the early 1970s, Alfa provided Formula One support for their works driver
Andrea de Adamich Andrea Lodovico de Adamich (born 3 October 1941) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of six championship points. He also p ...
, supplying adapted versions of their 3-litre V8 engine from the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 sports car to power Adamich's
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
() and
March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
() entries. None of these engine combinations scored championship points. In the mid-1970s, Alfa engineer
Carlo Chiti Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department. He also worked for Ferrari and was involved in the design of the Ferrari 156 Shar ...
designed a flat-12 engine to replace the T33 V8, which achieved some success in taking the
1975 World Sportscar Championship The 1975 World Sportscar Championship season was the 23rd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship for Makes1976 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 91-93 which was open to Group 5 Sports Cars a ...
.
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
, then owner of the
Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...
Formula One team, persuaded Alfa Romeo to supply this engine free for the
1976 Formula One season The 1976 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers . The two titles were contested over a sixteen race s ...
. Although the Brabham-Alfa Romeo's first season was relatively modest, during the and World Championships their cars took 14 podium finishes, including two race victories for
Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
. The company's sporting department,
Autodelta Autodelta SpA was the name of Alfa Romeo's competition department. Established in 1961 as Auto-Delta, the company was started by Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola, former Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineers. The team was officially made a departm ...
, returned as the works team in . This second period as a constructor was less successful than the first. Between the company's return and its withdrawal as a constructor at the end of , Alfa works drivers did not win a race and the team never finished higher than sixth in the World Constructors' Championship. The team's engines were also supplied to
Osella Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team. They participated in 132 Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored five championship points. Early days Named after its founder V ...
from to 1987, but they scored only two World Championship points during this period. The Alfa Romeo logo returned to Formula One in 2015, appearing on the
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
cars. In late 2017, Alfa Romeo announced that they were to become title sponsors for
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
from , and had entered into a technical and commercial partnership with the team. Alfa Romeo returned to the sport when Sauber was renamed at the beginning of . As of 2022 Alfa Romeo has been sponsored by German sportswear manufacturer
Puma SE Puma SE, branded as Puma, is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories, which is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. Puma is the third largest sportswear ...
.


Pre-war European Championship and post-war Grands Prix


Alfa Corse and Scuderia Ferrari (1920s–1940s)

Alfa Romeo had often been a force in Grand Prix racing before World War II. Cars like the P2 and the P3 were winners regularly until the German Mercedes and Auto Union cars came around in 1934; Alfa by this time had withdrawn temporarily as a manufacturer from racing but continued to give direct support to privateers like
Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italians, Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari ...
and his
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
team. From 1934 to the start of World War II in 1939, Alfa rarely won and their cars looked rather outdated and badly built compared to the high-tech Mercedes. Alfa was able to make the 158 for the 1938 season, although this car was not competitive against Mercedes; but was to become dominant later on; Alfa continued to use this car at Grands Prix in 1946 to 1949. When the new Formula One World Championship had come around, Alfa had dominated post-WWII racing from 1946 to 1949 – winning every Grand Prix they entered except for 3.


FIA World Championship


Alfa Romeo S.p.A. (1950–1951)

In 1950
Nino Farina Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...
won the inaugural World Championship of Drivers in a 158 with a
supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
, in 1951
Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
won while driving an Alfetta 159 (an evolution of the 158 with a two-stage compressor). The Alfetta's engines were extremely powerful for their capacity: in 1951 the 159 engine was producing around but this was at the price of fuel consumption of 125 to 175 litres per 100 km (1.5 mpg–U.S. / 3 mpg–imp). In 1952, facing increased competition from their former employee, Ferrari; Alfa Romeo, a state-owned company, decided to withdraw after a refusal of the Italian government to fund the expensive design of a new car to replace their 13-year-old workhorse. Surprisingly, Alfa Romeo involvement in racing was made with a very thin budget, using mostly pre-war technology and material during the two seasons. For instance, the team won two championships using only nine pre-war built engine blocks.


Autodelta, Marlboro and Benetton Team Alfa Romeo (1979–1985)

During 1977, and after some persuasion by Chiti, Alfa Romeo gave
Autodelta Autodelta SpA was the name of Alfa Romeo's competition department. Established in 1961 as Auto-Delta, the company was started by Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola, former Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineers. The team was officially made a departm ...
permission to start developing a Formula One car on their behalf. Thus named the
Alfa Romeo 177 The Alfa Romeo 177 was a Formula One car used by the Alfa Romeo team during the 1979 Formula One season, debuting at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix. The 177 marked Alfa Romeo's return to Formula One, 28 years after winning the World Drivers' Champio ...
, the car made its debut at the
1979 Belgian Grand Prix The 1979 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1979 at Circuit Zolder, Zolder. It was the sixth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 70-lap race was won ...
. The partnership with Brabham had finished before the end of the season, with Bernie Ecclestone's outfit returning to Ford/Cosworth DFV engines. This second Alfa works Formula One project was never truly successful during its existence from the middle of 1979 until the end of 1985. During this period Alfa Romeo achieved two pole positions,
Bruno Giacomelli Bruno Giacomelli (; born 10 September 1952) is a retired racing driver from Italy. He won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the Formula Two championship. He participated in 82 Formula One Grands Prix, competing for the fi ...
led much of the 1980 United States Grand Prix before retiring with electrical trouble, three 3rd places, two 2nd places and one fastest lap. They also endured tragedy when their driver
Patrick Depailler Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler (; 9 August 1944 – 1 August 1980) was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-champi ...
was killed testing for the 1980 German Grand Prix at the
Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...
. In they had the services of
Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
but continued to be dogged by poor reliability. After a restructuring of Autodelta, the team operations and design of the car were outsourced to Euroracing in , with the works engines still being supplied by Autodelta. The team's best season was when the team switched to the turbocharged 890T
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
and achieved 6th place in the Constructors' Championship, largely thanks to two second-place finishes for
Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 19595 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in ...
. While the turbocharged 890T proved competitive in 1983, more powerful and fuel-efficient engines from BMW, Ferrari,
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, TAG-
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
and
Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
, plus the
FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...
imposed 220-litre fuel limit with no re-fuelling allowed during pit stops during , saw the decline of the Euro racing Alfa Romeo team as a competitive force in Grand Prix racing. The 890T (the only turbo V8 engine used in GP racing at this time) was very thirsty and suffered badly at fast circuits- particularly both of Alfa's home circuits of Imola and Monza. To temporarily rectify this problem, the team had to run with less boost to save fuel- which made the engine underpowered, and this proved to be a severe hindrance at fast circuits- the kind of circuits where they almost always had to do that. The engine was developed but the fuel consumption problems were never really rectified.
Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to . He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
's third-place finish at the
1984 Italian Grand Prix The 1984 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 9 September 1984. It was the fourteenth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship. The 51-lap race was won by Austrian Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren- TAG, with l ...
being the last podium finish for the team, with both Patrese and
Eddie Cheever Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...
often failing to finish races throughout 1984 and due to running out of fuel- Cheever ran out of fuel 5 laps before the end at Alfa's home Grand Prix at Monza- close to Alfa's headquarters in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. The team's 1985 car, the Alfa Romeo 185T proved to be so uncompetitive that the 1984 car, the 184T was re-called into service mid-season. After being updated to 1985 specifications the car, now dubbed the 184 TB, was an improvement over the 1985 car, but results were still not forthcoming. In an interview he gave in 2000, Riccardo Patrese described the 185T as "the worst car I ever drove". Alfa Romeo pulled out of Formula One as a constructor following the final race of the 1985 season in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.


Alfa Romeo Racing/F1 Team (2019–2023)

In January 2019,
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
announced the team would rename to Alfa Romeo Racing, but unlike
BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...
, the ownership, Swiss racing licence and management structure would remain unchanged. Alfa Romeo's challenger for the season was the C38, continuing the naming convention from previous Sauber Formula One cars. The C38 included unique aerodynamic design elements in comparison to its rivals and predecessors, particularly at the front of the car as a result of regulation changes for the new season.
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
world champion
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
and former Sauber reserve driver
Antonio Giovinazzi Antonio Maria Giovinazzi (; born 14 December 1993) is an Italian racing driver who currently serves as the reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was the 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship runner-up and race ...
were hired as the team's drivers. Giovinazzi briefly led the
Singapore Grand Prix The Singapore Grand Prix; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்ஸ் is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Cir ...
for four laps, the first Alfa Romeo driver to lead a lap since Andrea de Cesaris did so at the
1983 Belgian Grand Prix The 1983 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 22 May 1983. It was the first Belgian Grand Prix to be held at Spa since 1970 and the first on the modern Spa circuit, and was also the sixth race of the 1983 FI ...
. The team's best result of the year came at the chaotic
Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...
, where Räikkönen and Giovinazzi were classified 4th and 5th respectively. Alfa Romeo finished the year in 8th place in the Constructors' Championship with 57 points. Alfa Romeo entered the season with an unchanged driver lineup. In January 2020 the team announced that they would enter a title sponsorship arrangement with
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
oil company
PKN Orlen Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen Spółka Akcyjna (PKN Orlen S.A.), commonly known as Orlen, is a Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer. The corporation is a significant European publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, ...
and that
Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...
would join as a reserve driver. Alfa Romeo Racing would remain as the team's name after
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
and Alfa Romeo had reached an agreement. Räikkönen retired from Formula One after concluding the 2021 championship season, while Giovinazzi departed the team to compete in
Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
. The team signed former Mercedes driver
Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...
and Formula 2 graduate
Zhou Guanyu Zhou Guanyu (, pronounced ; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Alfa Romeo. He is the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for UNI-Virt ...
for the season. Alfa Romeo are due to pull out of Formula One at the end of 2023, ending their partnership with Sauber.


Engine supplier


Naturally aspirated engines (1960s and 1970s)

During the 1960s, several minor F1 teams used Alfa Romeo
straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...
engines in cars such as the
LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations * LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, US Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within t ...
Mk1 and Mk2 "Specials", Coopers and
De Tomaso De Tomaso Automobili ltd. (previously known as De Tomaso Modena SpA) is an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) in Modena in 1959. It originally produced various prototypes a ...
s. In 1962,
Peter de Klerk Peter de Klerk (16 March 1935 – 11 July 2015) was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in four Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-se ...
created a custom-made, single-seater racing special built for the
South African Formula One Championship The South African Formula One Championship, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in South Africa between 1960 and 1975, including races in Rhodesia and Portuguese Mozambique. The front-running cars in the series were recently retire ...
. De Klerk's car was powered by an Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.5-litre
straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...
engine that was also used by
LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations * LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, US Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within t ...
, but unlike the LDS cars, de Klerk's car was christened as the Alfa Special. The Special participated in two Grands Prix, retiring at the 1963 South African Grand Prix and finishing 10th at the
1965 South African Grand Prix The 1965 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Prince George Circuit, East London on 1 January 1965. It was race 1 of 10 in both the 1965 World Championship of Drivers and the 1965 International Cup for Formula One Manufac ...
. It also entered five non-championship Grands Prix, scoring a podium finish at the 1963 Rand Grand Prix. In the end of the 1960s, Alfa Romeo was developing a new V8 engine for its racing cars, this engine was tested briefly in Cooper T86C F1-3-68 by Lucien Bianchi. Alfa Romeo briefly returned to Formula One for the and seasons with a V8 engine based on their sportscar unit. In 1970 the unit was mainly entrusted to
Andrea de Adamich Andrea Lodovico de Adamich (born 3 October 1941) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of six championship points. He also p ...
, a long time Alfa driver, in a third works
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. The combination often failed to qualify and was uncompetitive when it did run in the races. In 1971 a similar arrangement saw de Adamich run most of the second half of the season in a works
March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
car, with a similar lack of success. In 1976 Bernie Ecclestone did a deal for the
Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...
Formula One team to use Alfa Romeo engines based on their new
flat-12 A flat-twelve engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-twelve, is a twelve-cylinder piston engine with six cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. Flat-twelve engines are less common than V12 engines, but they have been used in vario ...
sports car unit, designed by
Carlo Chiti Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department. He also worked for Ferrari and was involved in the design of the Ferrari 156 Shar ...
. The engines were free and produced a claimed against the of the ubiquitous Cosworth DFV; although the 12-cylinder Alfa engine was heavier and used more oil and water than the 8-cylinder DFV, because of more mechanical processes going on in it. Packaging the engines was difficult – they had to be removed to change the
spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...
s – and the high
fuel consumption A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
engine required no fewer than four separate fuel tanks to contain of fuel.
Gordon Murray Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive. Early life Born t ...
's increasingly adventurous designs, like the
BT46 The Brabham BT46 is a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, one of which was the use of flat panel he ...
which won two races in 1978, were partly a response to the challenge of producing a suitably light and aerodynamic chassis around the bulky unit. When aerodynamic ground effect became important in 1978, it was clear that the low, wide engines would interfere with the large venturi tunnels under the car which were needed to create the ground effect. At Murray's instigation, Alfa produced a narrower
V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
design in only three months for the 1979 season, but it continued to be unreliable and fuel inefficient.


Turbo engines (1980s)

For the 1987 season, Alfa Romeo made a deal to supply engines to
Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
. A Gianni Tonti designed, twin turbo 1500 cc straight-4 named the Alfa Romeo 415T was tested in a Ligier JS29 by
René Arnoux René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...
. When Fiat (the same company that owned F1 giant Ferrari) took control of Alfa Romeo, the deal was cancelled (ostensibly due to negative remarks by Arnoux about the engine, comparing it to used food) and Ligier had to use
Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, ...
(ex BMW) engines for the entire 1987 season. Alfa also supplied engines to the small and unsuccessful Italian
Osella Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team. They participated in 132 Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored five championship points. Early days Named after its founder V ...
team from 1983 to 1988.
Normally aspirated Normality is a behavior that can be normal for an individual (intrapersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms to the most common beh ...
(1983) and
turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
(1984–1987) engines were used. In the beginning, Alfa also offered some technical input to the small
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
team; the 1984 Osella (the model FA 1/F) was based on the 1983 works Alfa Romeo 183T, the first chassis was a lightly reworked 183T. All the following Osella models up to the FA1L in 1988 had their origins in the 183T design. By 1988, the last turbo season, Alfa was fed up with the negative publicity generated by Enzo Osella's cars, so the
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
-based manufacturer prohibited the further use of its name in connection with the engine. The 1988 engines were simply dubbed "Osella V8". At the end of that season, the relationship finished, ending Alfa Romeo's involvement in Formula One.


Naturally aspirated V10 (1985)

In 1985, Alfa Romeo started a V10 Formula One engine project, in anticipation of the upcoming rules forbidding turbo engines. The engine was targeted to be used with Ligier Formula One cars. This was the first modern V10 Formula One engine, followed soon by Honda and Renault engines. The Alfa Romeo V1035 F1 engine was designed by Pino D'Agostino during the 1986 season.YouTube
Alfa Romeo V1035 F1 Sound. Test Balocco 1986 - YouTube
accessdate: 13. September 2018
In its first stage the 3.5 litre engine produced and the last version from 1986 could produce at 13300 rpm. After the co-operation with Ligier was cancelled the engine was available to the 164 Pro Car project. In 1988, Alfa Romeo (Fiat Group) bought Motor Racing Developments Ltd. (otherwise known as the Brabham F1 team) to build a chassis for a new ProCar series. The car developed was
V10 A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pr ...
powered
Alfa Romeo 164 ProCar The Alfa Romeo 164 (Type 164) is a four-door executive saloon manufactured and marketed by Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 1987-1998, styled by Pininfarina, and cooperatively designed and sharing platforms and numerous elements with the Fiat ...
(Brabham BT57) and was planned to race in a special racing series (as a support event to Formula One Grands Prix).


Team partnerships


Scuderia Ferrari (2015–2018)

Alfa Romeo branding has appeared on the
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
Formula One cars from the 2015 until the 2018 season, starting with the
Ferrari SF15-T The Ferrari SF15-T is a Formula One racing car which Ferrari used to compete in the 2015 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by James Allison, Simone Resta and Dirk de Beer with Mattia Binotto leading the powertrain design. It was dr ...
.


Sauber F1 Team (2018)

On 29 November 2017, it was announced that Alfa Romeo would be the title sponsor of the
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
Formula One team starting from the 2018 season in a "multi-year technical and commercial partnership agreement". On 2 December 2017, a press conference was held at the
Alfa Romeo Museum Museo Storico Alfa Romeo (Alfa Romeo Historical Museum; subsequently called Museo Alfa Romeo - La macchina del tempo, literally ''Alfa Romeo Museum - The time machine'') is Alfa Romeo's official museum, located in Arese (Province of Milan, Milan), ...
in
Arese Arese ( lmo, Ares ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, about northwest of Milan. Arese borders the following municipalities: Lainate, Garbagnate Milanese, Bollate, Rho, Milan. Arese ...
(Milan), illustrating the terms of the agreement between the FCA Group and the Swiss
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
team, followed by a presentation ceremony for the livery and the driver line-up consisting of
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...
and
Marcus Ericsson Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (; born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. Ericsson previously ...
. A January 2018 interview with Frederic Vasseur revealed that Alfa Romeo were intending to take over the Sauber team, and on 1 February 2019 it was announced that the team would enter the season as Alfa Romeo Racing, although the ownership and management structure will remain unchanged for the season.


Complete Formula One results

(Bold indicates championships won)


Drivers' Champions

*
Giuseppe Farina Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...
() *
Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
()


Formula One customer engine results

* ''Excludes factory team''


See also

*
Alfa Romeo in motorsport During its history, Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport, including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and Rallying, rallies. They have competed both as a construct ...


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * *


External links

{{Formula One constructors, state=collapsed Formula One entrants Formula One engine manufacturers Italian auto racing teams Italian racecar constructors Swiss auto racing teams Swiss racecar constructors 1950 establishments in Italy Auto racing teams established in 1950 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1951 Auto racing teams established in 1979 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1985 Auto racing teams established in 2019 Alfa Romeo in Formula One Sauber Motorsport McLaren Group