The Alfa Romeo 183T was a

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, ...

car designed by

Gérard Ducarouge Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...

and Mario Tollentino and was used by

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...

Team Alfa Romeo during the

1983 Formula One season The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 37th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...

. The car, with a newly designed flat bottom, made its debut at the

1983 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on 13 March 1983. It was the first round of the 1983 Formula One season. Qualifying Andrea de Cesaris was excluded after failing to stop for a weight check during ...

. Running on French Michelins, the 183T was driven in 1983 by Italians

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 ...

and

Mauro Baldi Mauro Baldi (born 31 January 1954) is an Italian former Formula One and endurance driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams. He is one of only 9 drivers who won the Triple Crown in endurance racing. Biography Baldi started ...

Design and development

Unlike the preceding Alfa Romeo F1 cars, the 183T chassis was not designed by Alfa Romeo's

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 ...

; instead Euroracing's chief engineer

was the main designer (Ducarouge was fired by Alfa less than a month into the 1983 season and was quickly signed by Lotus). Euroracing had been earlier successful in Formula 3 with Alfa Romeo engines. The 183T was basically an updated version of the teams car, the

182 Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

. Gone however was Alfa's 1260

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 ...

which had served the team since . In its place was the 890T, a 1.5-liter turbocharged

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 u ...

(the 1260 engine was still used at the time by the

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). The change in engine gave the 183T a significant boost in power. The 1260 V12 was rated at while the turbocharged 890T was rated at . However, this still fell short of the power figures quoted for the turbocharged BMW,

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and Ferrari engines. During the year the 890T's fuel consumption wasn't a factor as stops for fuel were permitted. From however, when 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 Backs ...

imposed a 220-liter fuel limit on the cars and banned stops for fuel, the V8 engine's fuel consumption, plus its shortage of power would see Alfa wane as a Formula One front runner.

Racing history

The 183T took 18 points from 29 entries; Andrea de Cesaris managed to score two second-place finishes and also gained one fastest lap at Spa Francorchamps, a race that he started from the 2nd row and led over half the distance. The 183T was used in early season testing before the season, fitted with new sidepods that would later appear on its successor, the Alfa Romeo 184T. However, the 183T was retired before the start of the season and was not used in competition.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{F1 cars 1983 183T 1983 Formula One season cars