"Back to the Future" 

Alfa Romeo  Formula 1 Racing  1970 - 2023

Text by Roberto Motta 

Italian Motorsport Journalist

Copyright  Robert Little  2021

McLaren Alfa Romeo 1970

After retiring from racing at the end of the victorious 1951 season, a year in which the 'Alfetta 159' powered Juan Manuel Fangio to win the world title, Alfa Romeo returned to Formula One in early 1970 as a sole supplier of engines to several teams.

The eventual return of Alfa Romeo to F1 racing took place in 1969 thanks to the interest of President Luraghi who wanted McLaren Cars to adopt the 33-3 sport engine for their new M14D.

It was Dr. Luraghi, a bright and strong manager from IRI, the real architect of the return... the true 'motive force' of the 105.33 project... that launched Alfa Romeo back into racing competitions. 

Dr. Luraghi, as CEO of Alfa Romeo S.p.A. at Portello had the unenviable task of reversing the financial and economic situation of Alfa Romeo.  He firmly believed that victories in racing were very important to sell the company's “family cars that win the races” theme.  His dream was to put the “red fireball racing cars” with the “Quadrifoglio” back at the top of the most important challenges.

Alfa Romeo already had his own “Dream Team”; it was the ”Servizio Esperienze Speciali”, directed by Ing. Orazio Satta Puliga and Ing. Giuseppe Busso.

Dr. Luraghi, considering the past experience and the current world of racing cars, decided that the goal to reach was the championship in the 2-liter Sports category.  But he decided to support the team “Servizio Esperienze Speciali” with an ad-hoc external structure....to be called "Autodelta".

In order to maintain a sense of autonomy while at the same time enjoying the special handling required in world class racing, Luraghi decided to adopt "Autodelta", the small factory in Udine into the Alfa Romeo S.p.A. sphere of influence.  

Autodelta back then was a short drive north of Venice.  Originated by Ing. Carlo Chiti with his friend Ludovico Chizzola back in 1963,  Autodelta in 1970 was able to supply 8-cylinder 90 ° V-8 engines to the McLaren M14D of Andrea de Adamich and, later in 1971 to the March 711 of Nanni Galli and Ronnie Peterson.

1970 Spanish Grand Prix Grand Prix  McLaren-Alfa Romeo MD7-1    Driver:  Andrea de Adamich    

McLaren-Alfa Romeo with Andrea de Adamich 1970

McLaren-Alfa Romeo 1970

The agreement between Bruce McLaren Motor Racing and the Alfa Romeo S.p.A. was signed in January of 1970 and according to the press release, publically released by the Casa del Portello on January 27th 1970.   

It was learned that the British company, in addition to being supplied with three engines had additionally requested the possibility of hiring the Italian driver Andrea de Adamich.

At the time of presentation, the Alfa Romeo V-8 engine declared a conservative power of 415-420 HP at 9,500 rpm, while the best Ford Cosworth engines pushed out 450 HP.  The agreement between the British manufacturer and Alfa Romeo was not the most fortunate, and the two partners had a difficult and unsatisfactory season.

McLaren-Alfa Romeo was entered in the competitions by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing.   Initially the car was built using a suitably modified M7A chassis to accommodate the Milanese engine and therefore called M7D-1.  The M7D-1 made its race debut during the Spanish Grand Prix practice on 17 April 1970. 

It was not a lucky debut and de Adamich was unable to qualify...missing the cutoff by just 0.05 seconds.  It was the prologue to an embarrassing situation that, over the course of the season, recurred in other Grand Prix races.

On April 26, the M7D-1 was used by Bruce McLaren in practice for the International Trophy at Silverstone.

On May 10th the car was again entrusted to de Adamich for the Monaco Grand Prix, but he was unable to get a valid qualifying time, again missing the grid by just 0.1 seconds.  The M7D-1 for de Adamich was entered for the Belgian Grand Prix on June 7th, but the car was not sent to Spa Francorchamps.

On June 21st, at Zandvoort... at the Dutch Grand Prix, the new car made its debut on the M14D-1 chassis.   Entrusted to de Adamich, it did not overcome the qualifying obstacle.

On July 5th, in the French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, the M7D-1 finally managed to get underway with de Adamich. Starting from the 6th row of the grid, completed only 29 laps before retiring due to a broken water pipe.

On July 19th, at Brands Hatch, again with the M7D-1, de Adamich qualified with the 18th fastest time but did not start the race due to a fuel leak in one of the tank bags.

On August 2nd, at the fast Hockenheimring circuit, de Adamich's M14D-1 once again failed to qualify, due to an engine failing to deliver full power.

On August 18th, at Zeltweg on the occasion of the Austrian Grand Prix, de Adamich and the M14D-1 qualified in fifteenth position. The technicians replaced the engine the night before the race, but it was the wrong choice. The new engine did not reach the expected rev limit (-1000 rpm) and de Adamich finished the race in 12th position.

After the Austrian race, Autodelta undertook to deliver a more powerful engine, also making some changes to the engine casing.

At the Italian Grand Prix on September 6th, the M14D-1 was entered for de Adamich, while
the M7D-1 was entrusted to Nanni Galli.  de Adamich obtained the 12th fastest time in qualifying and finished in 8th place. While Nanni Galli's car was unable to qualify for the race due to distribution problems.

On September 20th, in Canada, de Adamich's M14D-1 was forced to retire due to a drop in engine oil pressure.

On  October 4th, at Watkins Glen, the de Adamich car failed to qualify due to the inefficiency of the McLaren mechanics: the engine broke during Friday practice.  On Saturday, first a fuel leak and then a fire behind the dashboard did not allow the car to get a valid time for qualifying.

It was over: the team did not take the Alfa Romeo-powered car to the end-of-season race in Mexico City on October 25th.  McLaren had no incentive to continue developing the Alfa-powered car, as its Ford Cosworth DFV-powered cars proved more competitive. And, without a strong financial commitment, Alfa Romeo did not have sufficient engineering resources to be able to exceed the performance of the Cosworth engine.

The Technique

The M7A was part of a successful manufacturing operation that McLaren, founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, undertook and which included F1, F5000 and CanAm.

The Alfa Romeo-powered M7D and M14D derived from the M7A and M14A respectively, which were powered by the Ford Cosworth V8. Both were characterized by a light alloy monocoque frame with a load-bearing engine. 

They used a front suspension with double overlapping triangles and external shock absorber spring assemblies mounted in an inclined position. While the rear suspension used a single upper link and a lower inverted triangle, double longitudinal reaction struts and inclined shock absorber spring assemblies. Both axles were equipped with an anti- roll bar.

1970 Dutch Grand Prix  McLaren Alfa Romeo M7D-1   Driver:  Andrea de Adamich

1970 McLaren Alfa Romeo V-8 M7D-1

March - Alfa Romeo Formula 1 1971

In 1971, Alfa Romeo started a collaborative relationship with the young English March team. Founded in 1969 by Max Mosley, Alan Reese, Graham Coacher and Robin Herd, the small British team had a great success, both sporting and commercial, in F3, F2 and F1 and, for the '71 season.   

The team also extended its field of action in the production of sports cars for the CanAm championship.

For the F1 category, March prepared a new car, the 711, and enrolled for the championship two official cars, thanks to the financial support of STP and Alfa Romeo.

The agreement between March and Alfa Romeo provided that the Italian manufacturer would support March with the supply and overhaul of the engines, in addition to the payment of economic support of 20 thousand Pounds.

The official cars took part in the competitions with the Ford Cosworth V8 engine and the Alfa Romeo V8 engine.

In parallel, March delivered a car to the Williams-Politoys team for Henri Pescarolo.

Distinguished by a rounded line, and an elliptical front wing, which earned it the nickname of  ‘Tea Tray’ or 'Coffee Table', the car exploited an aerodynamic body designed by Frank Kostin, which took up some aerodynamic concepts he had already used on the Vanwall designed in '57.

The 711 used a closed monocoque frame with a load-bearing engine. The front suspension was made up of overlapping triangles with shock absorbers and springs inside the body. The rear ones consisted of a single upper arm, lower inverted triangle reinforced by a transverse element, a single upper reaction strut and external spring-shock absorber assemblies. Both axles were equipped with an anti-roll bar.

The first chassy of the 711 was equipped with front disc brakes mounted inside the body, a solution designed by Geoff Ferris and clearly inspired by the Lotus 72, a car on which the designer had previously worked.

However, after some track tests, the solution with 4 discs mounted on the wheels was preferred.

The 711 was equipped with a fuel tank with a total capacity of 227 liters, which was split on the sides of the body. While the oil tank was placed between the passenger compartment and the engine.

The water radiators were mounted on the sides of the passenger compartment while the oil ones were placed under the rear wing.

As mentioned, the car was designed to use both the Ford Cosworth and Alfa Romeo engines, which were combined with a 5-speed + RM Hewland FG400 gearbox.

The 711 weighed 550 kg.

1971 March 711-1 V-8 with driver Andrea de Adamich

1971 March Alfa Romeo 711-1

1971 March 711  Driver:  Ronnie Peterson

Brabham  Alfa Romeo 1974-1979

Text by Roberto Motta with Robert Little

                                                                Copyright  Robert B. Little   2021

In June of 1974 Bernie Ecclestone had contacted Ing. Carlo Chiti to explore the possibility of using the relatively new Autodelta 12 cylinder boxer engine.  

According to historical accounts, Ing. Chiti had dreamed of Alfa Romeo S.p.A. returning to full participation in Formula 1 since the withdrawal of the firm from Formula 1 back in 1951 due largely to economic difficulties.  Besides the unrelenting demands upon him to raise the power output of his V-8 for his T-33 series cars, Chiti pushed himself and his small engineering team to design in 1971 his own flat 12 cylinder for the day when the firm would return to Formula 1 racing.  

The agreement with Brabham was merely a stopping off point among his hidden plans to become a true constructor of Formula 1 cars supplying its own chassis and engines...

According to Ing. Chiti:  

"It was Andrea de Adamich once again who helped the operation to take place.  He had retired finally from racing in 1974, but had continued to enjoy excellent relations with Bernie Ecclestone, the patron for whom he had raced in 1973. Ecclestone was a very different man from the one we know today..." 

(Chiti was speaking early in the year 1991, three and one half years before his untimely passing following a heart attack in June of 1994).

Ing. Chiti continued...

"He was taking his first steps in Formula 1, but he had immediately showed his ability by gaining a generous and prestigious sponsor in Martini.  He had also realized that the backing of a major firm would assist the return to the top rank of the team of which he had just become the owner.  And not just that - - it had become clear to him that his Brabham fitted with the classic 8 cylinder Ford Cosworth, could not hope to do much against the 12 cylinder boxer of Ferrari".  

The engine that Ecclestone wanted to make that clear distinction with was the new Autodelta 12 cylinder.   It had just recently made it's debut at the Targa Florio in 1973 and had won its first championship race at Monza the following year.  Ecclestone had taken notice when de Adamich proposed the collaboration sometime thereafter.

"Ecclestone wanted his team to be different from the others, and it didn't take much to convince de Adamich that the agreement with Alfa would enable him to make the necessary leap in quality."  

The brilliant designer Gordon Murray had succeeded in creating a first class BT44B car using the Cosworth powerplant.   But when the agreement was reached between Chiti and Ecclestone in June of 1975,  the parties found that it was necessary to completely revise the BT44 chassis to enclose the flat 12 cylinder with all of the unknown variables between the chassis, the engine, the transmission,  the team cultures and the language difficulties that all came into play.

                                                                                                        - Robert Little

By 1976, after more than twenty years from its retirement from Grand Prix racing, the Casa del Portello finally returned to F1 motor racing providing Brabham with its own Alfa Romeo 12-cylinder boxer engine. 

This event signalled their return to the highest motor racing formula that ultimately culminated with the return of an all-Alfa Romeo single-seat Formula 1 car in 1979.

By the end of 1975, the Casa del Portello won the World Championship for Makes campaign with their 33TT12 powered by the 'Tipo 105-12' boxer engine. The reliability and power of the engine allowed the 33TT12 to win most of the scheduled races and by doing so attracted the notice of Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone.   

He requested the engine for his Formula 1 team along with the collaboration of Alfa Romeo driver Andrea de Adamich.    

Mr. de Adamich, who had retired from active participation from the racing world in 1974, had maintained a good relationship with both the Alfa Romeo organization and with Bernie Ecclestone for whom he competed in 1973 with the BT42.

Brabham was a small team that had achieved good success in the 1974 championship series, taking 2nd place in the constructors standings and allowing Carlos Reutemann to take 3rd place in the drivers' standings.

Ecclestone was aware that his cars, powered by the Ford Cosworth V-8 engine were unable to compete against the Ferrari-powered cars with their 12-cylinder boxer engines.  Furthermore, he was looking for something that would allow his team to stand out from other British teams.   de Adamich did not have to struggle to convince Eccelstone that the agreement with Alfa Romeo had the potential to allow a much sought-after leap in quality and performance.

After brief negotiations, Ecclestone signed an agreement with Alfa Romeo which undertook to supply him with the engines and follow their development.

The BT45 is born.

Once the agreement had been reached, the British engineers led by designer and aerodynamicist Gordon Murray modified a Brabham BT44 chassis to accommodate the Milanese engine and initiate  the first feasibility tests.

On October 13, 1975, on the Silverstone track, the first Brabham-Alfa Romeo made its track debut.

The results were not encouraging. The Brabham and Alfa Romeo technicians, who had imagined up front that their collaboration would not be easy quickly faced its first problem: the Alfa Romeo 'boxer' required a specialized chassis.

The flat twelve cylinder allowed the car's center of gravity to be lower and to deliver more power than the V-8 Cosworth, but it was heavier, had larger overall dimensions and higher fuel consumption. To solve the frame problems, Murray then designed a new car which was called BT45.

Here are the images above from the BT45 presentation of October 26th, 1975.

Below is shown the first version of the BT45-001.

The Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 shown here below competed in the 1976 Canadian Grand Prix with Larry Perkins.   Notice the variation in air intake designs shown between the BT45s in photo above and below.

The Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 shown here competed in the 1976 Canadian Grand Prix with Larry Perkins.   

1977 Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45B with John Watson

The Technique

The new car from the outer design standpoint was the natural evolution of the BT44. It maintained the shape of the front with the water radiators placed in front of the front wheels, while the car body had more of the same square and massive shapes. 

The aerodynamics, however, were somewhat different, with the rear completely flaired and two striking vertical air intakes, which had the task of diverting the 'clean' air from the rear tires to the  channel towards the rear wing, while simultaneously conveying more fresh air towards the trumpet intakes of the engine.

Heavily reinforcing the chassis, Murray re-designed the front suspension with a scheme already tested... with the shock absorber spring assemblies packaged inside the car compressed from the bottom upwards thanks to an aluminum balance wheel put in traction by a tie rod. The rear suspension consisted of a shock absorber spring assembly, transverse arms and longitudinal linkage.

Both axles were equipped with a stabilizer bar.

The braking system used self-ventilating discs with 4-piston calipers. The front discs were mounted to the wheels, while the rear discs were mounted in-board to the sides of the transmission.

The BT45 had its initial shake down session in mid-October when, driven on the track by Reutemann, it made only one lap at a reduced pace due to engine lubrication problems.

The BT45 was therefore forced to return to the workshops to adopt a new larger oil tank, and to replace the recovery pumps of the lubricant circuit.

On 26 October, the BT45, distinguished by a white livery and the brand of the sponsor Martini, was officially presented on the Balocco circuit in the presence of Moro, Chiti, Ecclestone, Cortesi, Vittorio Rossi and the drivers Pace and Reutemann.

During the meeting with the press, the Milanese manufacturer announced its future sporting program schedule which included the abandonment of the 1976 World Championship for Makes competition, and the total involvement of Autodelta in the preparation of 'boxer' engines for Brabham.

During the day in front of the corporate leaders, the car safely covered only a few laps of the track.  During the following days, it was subjected to an intense development program were problems of undersizing the chassis and the anomalous functioning of the engine were highlighted.

Recall that the Milanese boxer was derived from the unit mounted on the 33TT12 and that its use on sports cars allowed the use of an oil tank with a capacity of about 30 liters... while on the BT45 the oil tank had a capacity of only 8 liters. Furthermore, the characteristics required of an engine used in endurance races, where it was subjected to prolonged stresses over long time periods were aimed at the durability and solidity of the structure, rather than the absolute containment of weight.  

Autodelta technicians were thus forced to develop the engine to improve its lubrication and reduce its weight.

1976 Brabham Alfa Romeo horizontally opposed 12 cylinder chassis  BT45-001

This 12 cylinder boxer 180 degree 2993 cc  520 horsepower 12 cylinder car was introduced on October 26, 1975 at the Alfa Romeo private testing facility at Balocco.   Chassis  BT45-001

1977 Canadian Grand Prix Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45  Driver:  Carlos Ruetemann

Discussion and Commentary

“It was difficult..." Ing. Chiti said, "... and Ecclestone and I knew that very well. But the important thing was not to be too discouraged by the early poor results.  The Brabham men had to learn to suffer, to forget what they’d achieved in the previous seasons, just as we people from Alfa had to learn to work in perfect harmony with the English team.”

According to an account written by noted historian Doug Nye in his book “The Grand Prix Car 1966 – 1985”, Mr. Nye wrote that the collaboration between Brabham and Autodelta was filled with difficulties.

"Initially, communication with Autodelta was poor; without warning such vital items as engine mountings could vary by as much as one-half inch from an engine to another causing nightmares in assembly and preparation." 

The first season was difficult not only for the team but especially for Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann...in their first season with the new BT45 car...two drivers of South American extraction with easily depressed attitudes when faced with adversity.

At their introductory race at the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying held on Friday January 23, 1976  the two cars could only manage to place 10th and 15th on the grid.

And throughout the entire season mediority plagued the team.   Tension developed to the point that Reutemann quit the team by the 12th race of the season and was replaced immediately by Irishman John Watson.  

The public began to question the wisdom of the match-up between the two organizations...reliability problems with the engine and powertrain continued to plague the team with Carlos Pace relegated to 14th place in the final season championship ranking.

1977 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45B with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jr.

1977 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45B with designer Gordon Murray (L) and driver John Watson

The BT45B

In the winter of 1976 - 1977, Murray and Ing. Chiti worked to improve the car. The designers anticipated the BT45B's race debut to be at the South African Grand Prix. The car had a new rear suspension, engine mounts and a new gearbox, while further changes were made to the air intakes to allow the 12-cylinder boxer to breathe deeply and deliver power of around 530 hp.

Like every year, the championship kicked off with the Argentine Grand Prix. The BT45 performed very well and allowed Watson and Pace to record 2nd and 6th fastest times. On race day, the two BT45s took turns in command, until Watson's car was forced to retire due to a broken drive shaft, while Pace's car took a sweaty 2nd place due to a physical ailment of the driver.

In Brazil the BT45s started very fast, but already on lap 7 Pace's car was betrayed by the impetuousness of its driver and ended the race after a off-road excursion. Watson's car had the same fate and he abandoned the race on lap 30.

Finally, in South Africa, the BT45B made its debut, obtaining the 2nd fastest qualifying time in qualifying with Carlos Pace. In the race, Watson's car was the fastest among the two and took the first points with 6th place.

A few days later, Carlos Pace was the victim of a plane crash that cost him his life. The Anglo-Italian team was forced to hire a substitute to face the rest of the championship; the choice fell on Hans- Joachim Stuck, Jr., son of the legendary driver of the thirties.

At Long Beach Watson's car triggered an accident at the first braking point and was disqualified, while Stuck's car abandoned the race on lap 53 due to broken brakes.

In the subsequent Grand Prix of Monte Carlo, Watson's BT45B set the fastest time, but at the start its wheels skated on a painted pedestrian crossing and was passed by Scheckter's Wolf. After more than halfway through the race in 2nd position he retired with gearbox problems.

During the summer season, Lauda set out to win his second World Championship with Ferrari... at the same time the expiration of his contract was fast approaching. 

After serious contractual misunderstandings with Ferrari, Lauda decided to accept Bernie Ecclestone's proposals, and at Zandvort he signed the contract with the Anglo-Italian team for the 1978 season. 

Before the end of the season, after mathematically winning the Drivers' World Championship, Ferrari let go of the Austrian driver and replaced him with the young Gilles Villeneuve.

Throughout the season, the BT45B, which faced its last race in the Japanese Grand Prix, continued to achieve excellent times in practice, particularly with Watson...but failed to clinch the much-desired race victory.   Among the results obtained was 2nd place of Watson in France and the two podiums in Germany and Austria with Stuck.

The new 1978 season began in Buenos Aires with newcomer John Watson sharing the front row in qualifying with James Hunt.  

The revised BT45B began the season with new, more angular and efficient bodywork and engine breathing configuration, newly designed suspension components and a lighter engine weight.  

Irrespective of the improvements noted, the team failed to win a single race within its first three years of existence and had suffered its greatest loss with the death of Carlos Pace on March 18, 1977 before the 4th race in a light plane crash.   

Alfa Romeo 'Type 1260'

The Alfa Romeo 'Type 1260' engine, i.e. 12 cylinders in 60 ° V, characterized by bore and stroke measurements of 77.0 and 53.60 mm (2995 cc), exploited all of the experiences of the previous boxer, of which it maintained some details such as the crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and cylinder heads. 

Designed by the Autodelta staff directed by engineer Carlo Chiti and built in just four and a half months, this engine, due to its narrow 60 ° V architecture, was built according to its use on a 'Ground Effects' chassis configuration 

With its granite appearance, its structure was characterized by narrow and high cylinder banks, which gave it a sense of solidity and great power. Each group of 3 cylinders was placed next to each other with an identical ignition interval. The separate exhaust manifolds merged with a Type 3 system into one and then flowed into a single exhaust.

The 12 cylinder Alfa also stood out for its tremendous noise, typical of very fractionated constructions.

The V 1260 engine made it possible to create internal wings that were 40 cm wider and owing to the lateral venturi, they gave a downforce estimated at several hundred kilograms weighing on the wheels.

At the time of its track debut which took place on Lauda's BT48 in December 1978, it had an output of 525 hp at 12,200 rpm.

In 1981 the 1260 type changed bore and stroke measurements which took the values of 78.5 and 51.5 mm (2,991 cc).

Over the years it has always maintained a high standard of reliability and power, reaching in its latest versions 540 horsepower at 12,300 rpm and a torque of over 35 kgm at 9,000-9,500 rpm.

1978 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT46 

1978 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT46  1978 Long Beach Grand Prix

Brabham BT46B "Fan Car"

Thanks to the British Broadcasting Corporation, we present an unusual video featuring the background and creation of the famous Brabham BT46B 'Fan-car'.   

This short video presentation features remarks made by Chief Designer Gordon Murray, team principal Bernie Ecclestone and other executives of Brabham and of the Formula One Constructors Association...including a few remarks by then-competitor Mario Andretti who himself raced the first ground-effects car designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars.  

Here is the link provided especially for our use by the BBC:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B294RfWj1QE&t=71s

1978 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT46B

Owing to the lack of public availability of true factory chassis photographs without covers obscuring the mechanicals, master modeler Calvin Sallee of California has come to assist us in understanding what the true appearance of the car looked like.   

He prepared hundreds of components of this BT46B kit from Japan, painted each piece and carefully assembled them.  This model presentation is an exception to the historical policy of Autodelta Golden Years.com site but nevertheless it is the only way we know of to see what is underneath.

The winner of the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix...the Brabham Alfa BT46B "Fan Car" 12 cylinder.  This revolutionary design by Gordon Murray was challenged on a number of different grounds and was quickly and permanently excluded from further Formula 1 competition.  

Year later Carlo Chiti, looked back on his Brabham Alfa Romeo days and told his memoir writer and friend Oscar Orefici: 

"This was the beginning of our troubles- and it was Lauda's fault.  Eccelstone had ordered that our drivers should not try to win, because he was afraid that if the new car triumphed on its first appearance, it might create problems in the world of sporting politics. But Niki turned a deaf ear ...he was after fame and glory." 

Bernie Ecclestone went so far as to require the car to run all qualifying sessions on a full tank of fuel.

At the end of season, the lack of results caused a elevation of friction within the Brabham Alfa Romeo team, which became nearly impossible to circumvent when Lauda declared his opposition to the construction of a new Alfa Romeo car.

1978 Brabham Alfa Romeo BT46 

It was a cold rainy Friday afternoon in May of 1978 on the Cote d'Azur...only a few yards from the workshop where the Brabham team was busily preparing for the weekend Monte Carlo Formula 1 trials...  

This is where Ing. Chiti chose to carefully and somewhat vaguely confirm what the automobile racing press had been whispering about for months....that Autodelta would be testing a new "Alfa-Alfa" car for the first time at Balocco within several months. 

Chiti knew that his word would be dutifully published the next day in the Italian Gazette newspaper and read by Ecclestone.  Needless to say, Ecclestone was beyond furious...

Chiti did not deny the story... trying to take advantage of some language difficulties, but nevertheless attempted to wriggle out of the huge amount of anger from his partner Bernie Ecclestone.

Looking back over his long and lusterous career, Ing. Chiti explained:

"My intention was to create a Formula 1 team for us , and at the same time to continue to provide engines for Brabham.  This policy was actually put into effect by Renault, for one, later on, but Massacesi, our Chairman, wouldn't have it; he was convinced that it was damaging to Alfa Romeo's name to go on being associated with a controversial and difficult personality like Bernie Ecclestone." 

The fact remained for the past three years the Brabham - Alfa Romeo collaboration had failed to achieve much more than a couple of pole positions and a few high non-podium finishes.   The car never won a Grand Prix race up to the middle of the third season and had to be content with a couple of 4th place finishes and a second place fuel-starved finish in 1977 by the Irishman John Watson.  

The rising volume of disputes and inter-company bickering continued to rage between Ecclestone and Chiti over their failure to achieve anything remotely successful between their two powerful organizations.  

To Ecclestone's way of thinking the Alfa Romeo 12 cylinder engine and drivetrain was totally to blame for a vast majority of the substandard outcomes. 

In near total secrecy, and in true Machiavellian fashion long dreamed about by the Ingegnere a decade prior ...behind the walls of Autodelta in Settimo Milanese an experimental Formula 1 car named the Alfa "T" (for Total Alfa Romeo components or Totale) had been designed and was being constructed. ..with the full support and backing of Alfa Romeo S.p.A. ..unbeknownst to its Brabham team partner.   The true design of the new Formula 1 car had been initated in 1976.

"The break was entirely Massacesi's fault" Ing. Chiti had said.

A decisive meeting took place in August, at Malpensa airport in Milan.  "We had made an appointment there with Ecclestone to discuss the future.  While we were waiting for him to arrive, the Chairman said to me:  'Alfa can't run itself by association with a type like Ecclestone'. 

By the time the Canadian Grand Prix was held, the Brabham team returned to their familiar Cosworth V-8 engine while Autodelta proceeded on its own way with an "Alfa-Alfa" all Italian philosophy.

Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT48

                                                             Text by Roberto Motta

After the exclusion from the championship of the BT46B 'fan car', the studies undertaken by Gordon Murray to build the BT47 were abandoned. The car was excluded from competition by the FIA regulations before it was even born, as it exploited a rear end from the scheme derived from the Chaparral 2J with two variable geometry fans to maximize the ground effect.

To resolve the situation, Murray and Chiti met and discussed how to build a new 'wing car'.

It was immediately clear that Murray would have to build a chassis suitable for mounting a V-shaped engine, along the lines of the Lotus, and that Chiti, and Autodelta, would have had to build a new engine suitable for a 'Wing Car'.

The engine was called 'Type 1260', that is 12 cylinders with a 60 ° V, and was built in just four and a half months. The architecture of the V12 made possible to create internal wings of the body with a width of 40 cm which, thanks to the lateral venturi, gave a depression estimated at several hundred kg on the wheels when cornering.

In December 1978, when the engine debuted on the Lauda's BT48, was able to push out 525 hp at 12,200 rpm.

From him part, Murray designed a car that at the moment of its appearance on the track, obtained the approval of almost all those present who thinked it 'beautiful'.

The car looked like a torpedo, fully faired and with a clean line. It had a very advanced cockpit, wide sides and lacked the rear wing.

The frame of the BT48 was an integral monocoque made of aluminum and carbon fiber. The suspensions exploited a pull-rod system on the two axles: the front ones exploited overlapping triangles and inboard shock absorber-spring groups. The rear ones consisted of two lower arms, double upper lever and inboard shock absorber-spring groups.

The braking system used 4 discs mounted on the wheels combined with Girling calipers. The discs and pads were made of carbon fiber and supplied by Dunlop.  The car was equipped with a 200 liter safety tank.

The body of the car was made of fiberglass and carbon reinforced with molded plastic elements.  The BT48 had a wheelbase of 2743.2mm, front track of 1731.8mm and rear track of 1625.6mm, and claimed a weight of 590kg.

The Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT48, equipped with the new Alfa Romeo V-12 engine, made its first laps on December 23 at Brands Hatch. Sent to France, on the Le Castellet circuit, it faced the winter tests together with almost all the other F1 teams.

On January 5, the car was shipped to Buenos Aires to undergo development tests on both the Argentine and Rio circuits.

May 13, 1979:  Zolder  Alfa Romeo 177 with Bruno Giacomelli on the left and the Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT48 of Niki Lauda on the right. 

                                        Alfa Romeo 177: Back To The Future
                                             

Text and Photos Courtesy of Roberto Motta

Copyright  Robert B. Little   2021

Little known to non-Alfisti's, the Alfa Romeo 'Tipo 177' was one of the most popular cars and important cars in the history of Alfa Romeo in competitions.   After a long development period the 177 participated in only four races without reporting significant results, but it allowed the 'Biscione' to return to the world of Formula 1 with a real project.

An all-Italian car....  The chassis...   The engine...  and of course...   The driver.

In 1951, after winning the World Championship with Nino Farina in 1950 and with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951 driving the famous 'Alfetta', the Alfa Romeo company retired from the world of Grand Prix.

Then, over the next few years and with the growing number of victories in the categories reserved for GT cars and in the Sport Prototype category,  the management of the Milanese manufacturer was then tempted to return to Formula 1 with one all-Italian single-seater and those thoughts became more than an insistent pre-occupation.

So much so that in the period 1970-1972, Alfa Romeo S.p.A. returned to the world of Grand Prix racing by supplying its V-8 engines to McLaren and March.

A few years later in 1976, after winning the World Championship for Makes title with the 33TT12, the Milanese manufacturer began a collaboration with the English team Brabham to supply its famous flat-twelve 'boxer' engine.

Unfortunately the results were slow to arrive and the relationship between the Italian technicians and their English colleagues deteriorated, so much so that in 1977, Ettore Massacesi, then General Manager of Alfa Romeo asked Autodelta to design and develop a new Formula 1 car with which to return to the world of Grand Prix racing.

Autodelta was the racing department of Alfa Romeo and its workshops were located in Settimo Milanese, a town northwest of Milano.

The technical manager for the development of the new F1 Alfa project was Ing. Carlo Chiti, one of the most brilliant designers in the history of world motor racing.

The new car called the 'Tipo 177', was powered by the twelve-cylinder 'boxer' engine designed by Chiti and already used by Brabham in 1976.

This "Tipo 115-12" engine was characterized by measurements of bore and stroke of 77.0 and 53.6 mm respectively which gave it an actual displacement of 2995 cc and in its latest version was capable of delivering 520 horsepower at 12,000 rpm.  The chassis of the new single-seater used an aluminum monocoque which was mounted to the engine with a semi-load-bearing function.

The front suspension used overlapping wishbones and arms connected to the spring-shock absorber groups placed in a vertical position inside the car body.

The rear suspension was composed of overlapping wishbones with longitudinal reaction struts and spring-shock absorber groups placed in external inclined position.

The suspension was complemented by both adjustable anti-roll bars on the front and on the rear. 

Finally after a year of testing, first secretly on the Brands Hatch circuit followed by development tests on the private Balocco proving ground and other European circuits...on May 13th,1979...the occasion of the 6th championship match, which took place on the Belgian circuit of Zolder, the Alfa Romeo 177 was entered and entrusted to Bruno Giacomelli.

During the two practice sessions characterized by rainy weather and by a slippery track, Giacomelli's 177 obtained the 14th fastest time, behind the Brabham-Alfa Romeo, powered by the Alfa Romeo "Tipo 1260" engine with 60 ° V cylinders driven by the famous Austrian driver Niki Lauda.

On race day, Alfa Romeo 177 wrestled with De Angelis' Shadow, up to when, during the 21st lap, it was violently bumped in the rear by the De Angelis car and was forced to retire.

For the Alfa Romeo management and for the entire press contingent, it was a positive debut... although the 177 was by now technically an outdated car and definitely heavy. 

Born as an experimental car two years earlier, it was characterized by a dry weight of over 600 kg, and yes,...it  was racing against ground effect cars weighing just over 500 kg. 

Moreover, in this period, the Milanese house had already prepared one new ground effect car, the 179, of which was being secretly developed in anticipation of it's debut at the Italian Grand Prix.

About six weeks after July 1st '79, the 177 and Giacomelli returned to race at the French Grand Prix, which was held on the Dijon circuit and conquered the 17th fastest time. 

The day of the race, despite the great commitment of Giacomelli, the 177 passed the finish line in 17th position five laps behind the Renault RS 11 winning car.

Over the next few days, the 177 was put through a tough test on the very fast track of Hockenheim  driven by Vittorio Brambilla... and showed some very interesting lap times. 

However, the Alfa Romeo team leadership decided not to participate in the next race scheduled on the German track, and instead concentrated its efforts on the preparation of the car destined for the next Italian Grand Prix, a race in which the debut of the new ground effect car...the new 179 was planned.

On September 9th 1979, on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the 177 came entrusted to Brambilla. It was a memorable day, the Italian fans provided for Alfa Romeo and its drivers, Vittorio and Bruno and generously gave them an unforgettable welcome.

Brambilla, then 42 was returning to Formula 1 racing on the same track where a year earlier he had had his dramatic accident.

During the qualifying session, the 177 obtained the 22nd fastest time, preceding four other cars.

At the end of the race, which saw the victory of the world championship by Ferrari of Jody Scheckter, Vittorio Brambilla's Alfa Romeo 177 behaved more than dignified and passed under the checkered flag in 12th position, while the 179 entrusted to Giacomelli was forced to retire during the 29th lap for one accident.

It should be noted that before the retreat, the 179 had reached the Lauda-driven Brabham and was about to overtake it, then a trivial off - road event at the Ascari curve stopped the sensational action of the new Milanese car.

A week later the 177 appeared in the race at the Dino Ferrari Grand Prix, a contest run at Imola not valid for the championship . For the first time in nine years, Enzo Ferrari attended the tests.

During qualifying, the single 177 was run by both Bruno and Vittorio but for the race Vittorio was chosen to race the car. Starting from 6th place on the starting grid, the 177 finished the race in 9th place one lap behind the winner.

On lap 40 the 177, as in its debut race, was hit by the Shadow of Elio De Angelis, and was forced to slow down its run.

The Alfa Romeo 177-001 thus ended its career at Imola by behaving better than her younger sister, the 179, who was forced to retire after only 4 laps.

The 177 completed in only a few races but accomplished its task; it had successfully returned an Alfa Romeo car in F1 after a very long absence....of 28 years.

1979 Alfa Romeo Tipo 177 with Bruno Giacomelli

1979 Alfa Romeo 177 12 cylinder boxer 3000 cc

1979 Alfa Romeo "Tipo 179".

These next few images serve to show the different chassis and body designs used by Brabham and Alfa Romeo...at one time competing at circuits together.

1979 Alfa Romeo 'Typo 177'

Nelson Piquet (#5) and Niki Lauda (#6) 1979 Brabham BT48 - Alfa Romeo 

These four photographs above are shown here for the comparison of the design of the Alfa Romeo 177,  the 179 chassis with the same year Brabham BT46 design. 

All raced together at one point in time.

Alfa Romeo 179

Text by Roberto Motta

Photos: Alfa Romeo Documentation Center, Arese, Roberto Motta and

Tom Wood © 2011 Courtesy of RM Auctions

Copyright  Robert B. Little  2021

The "179" was an important car in F1 history.  While it was born as a ground effect ‘wing-car’, it was severely modified by the cruel winds of regulatory change during its scheduled lifetime on the Formula 1 circuits of the late 1970s and early 1980’s.

Because those changes were enacted during its planned competitive lifetime, it did not achieve its desired results… but it nevertheless made fans of Alfa Romeo brand enthusiasts worldwide.

In 1979 Alfa Romeo returned to compete in the F1 World Championship with its own car, the 177 … its debut occurring at the Grand Prix of Belgium at Zolder on May 13, 1979.   

Born and developed two years before its Zolder debut… and even after having a positive debut, the 177 proved to be somewhat technically outdated.

Originally conceived for the use of Pirelli radial tires, it was forced to use the Goodyear brand at the last minute.

Moreover, the size and weight problems of the boxer engine did not allow it to be a real aero ground effect wing-car.  The problems with the dimensions of the engine also affected the results of the first Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45-001 which obviously like the Milanese car, could not make the best use of the ground effect.

For this reason, in the late spring of 1978 the engineer Carlo Chiti began designing a new powertrain called the "Tipo 1260", that is, 12 cylinders in a “V” of 60 °, which would have allowed the car to take better advantage of the side tunnels inside where an inverted wing structure was placed… allowing the exploitation of the ground effect.

At the same time the 177 continued to be updated and to participate in some championship races.

The "Tipo 1260" engine.

It was built in just over four months.  Since the first tests carried out by Niki Lauda, the engine proved to be one of the best engines of its period.

It had bore and stroke measurements of 77.0 mm and 53.60 mm (2995 cc), and it exploited all the Autodelta experiences gained from the previous Autodelta boxer…retaining proprietary details such as the crankshaft journals, connecting rods, pistons and cylinder heads.

With its solid granite appearance, its structure was characterized by the banks of its twelve cylinders, narrow and tall, which gave it a sense of solidity and great power. Separate exhaust manifolds joined with a 3-in-one type system to flow into a single outlet.

At the time of its test debut on the track which took place in Lauda's BT48 in December 1978, the new engine it had an output of 525 hp at 12,200 rpm.

Over the years it maintained a high standard of reliability and power,  delivering, in its latest versions, 540 horsepower at 12,300 rpm and a higher torque of 35 kgm at 9,000-9,500 rpm.

Thus, as time passed, Alfa Romeo continued to simultaneously supply engines to the Brabham Parmalat team passing from the 'Tipo 115-12' to the V12 'Tipo 1260' that fitted the BT48.

Alfa Romeo 179: a real aero 'wing-car'

The 179 was conceived following the technical dictates that prevailed in the period. It was a true 'ground effects' design: inside the body were upside down wing profiles and variable section side air vents which, with the help of the side skirts,  allowed a watertight seal under the bottom of the car.  

The side air vents allowed the air to transit under the car creating strong downward force which turned into a significant increase in downforce.

Thus, on a road course …it held the curves enormously stronger and more authoritatively than that of traditional single-seaters.

Designed by French engineer Robert Choulet, the 179's shape looked like a set of rounded curves broken by the sharp lines of the sides.

Narrow V-cylinders had been designed to achieve the best aerodynamic performance possible. It was definitely the first time in the history of racing cars that an engine was built specifically for these aerodynamic parameters.   Its V-shaped structure of 60 ° allowed the car to feature unseen internal side pod downforce wings with a width of 40 centimeters …more than those that had been allowed by the flat wide boxer engine and creating more downforce to the ground effect of about 700 kg (at 260 km / h).

The car showed off a very narrow attractive body made of aluminum panels and titanium with a clean trim, slim shape… which started from the nose up to the engine.  Behind the driver's shoulders was the 200-liter fuel tank.

The suspension system exploited the same solutions adopted for the 177.  As before,  Autodelta used overlapping “A” frames up front with a wide wheelbase and anti-roll bar while in the rear Ing. Chiti’s engineers fitted lower triangular “A” frames and an upper arm, and worthy of note…the 179 was equipped with an anti-roll bar adjustable by the driver.

This single-seater, characterized by a rounded line that contrasted with the taut shapes of the sides, was born from the long tests in the wind tunnel.  Thanks to the considerable downforce of its body, it was devoid of the spoiler in front and looked like one of the most beautiful F1 cars.

Small spoilers and a front air downforce spoiler was later tested and adopted as was a full-width aileron.

The 179 weighed 595 kg dry, had a wheelbase 2.74 m, track widths of 1.72 m and 1.57 m, length 4.34 m, width 2.14 m and height 0.9 m.

A not inconsiderable fact was that for the first time since the 158 'Alfetta'... the 179 used an engine designed exclusively for F1 competitions since the Autodelta V-8 power unit and its subsequent 12 cylinder boxer engines were powertrains derived from an engine used on Sports cars.

The 179 therefore had what it took to bring Alfa Romeo back to victory.

Alfa Romeo "Tipo 1260" V-12 engine. 

1979 Alfa Romeo 179 V-12 3000 cc

On August 16 and 17, 1979 the Alfa Romeo Autodelta team moved to the Monza circuit where, in the presence of the then Alfa Romeo President Massacesi the 179 was tested by Bruno Giacomelli and Vittorio Brambilla.

During the tests the 179 became the victim of a few technical problems, including the breaking of an exhaust manifold, which detached from the engine as the car drove along the Lesmo curve and… five laps later, the engine failed in the same corner.

The 179 was forced to return to the pits towed by a track service car, an Alfetta GTV among whistles from spectators.

The following morning, around 11:00 am, the 179 was taken to the track by Brambilla and, with some interruptions for the necessary checks, the high speed tests continued until 6:00 pm, when the track was closed.

Almost one month later, on  September 9th on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, the Autodelta 177-001 was entrusted to Vittorio Brambilla and 179-001 to Bruno Giacomelli.

At the qualifying tests, the 179 obtained the 18th fastest time in the starting grid while its sister, the 177 obtained the 22nd fastest position.

During the race the 179 fought with Lauda's Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT48 but, while on the 29th lap Giacomelli spun his 179 at the Ascari curve and ended its run.

It was a shame, because the car had been competitive, even if it was still fresh from of its initial development.

At the end of the race,  Jody Scheckter's Ferrari won the world championship and the 177 finished in 12th position.

The '179' had a long career and was made in different versions (179B, 179C, 179D, 179F). Probably the most beautiful version was its first year model, in which it was distinguished by a red livery, the color chosen for Italian racing cars and was devoid of front spoilers.

With this configuration Autodelta and the 179 faced the last championship races in Montreal and at Watkins Glen.

The 179-001 remained at Giacomelli's disposal, while the 179-002 was entrusted to Patrick Depailler.

It shines.

After its demanding debut in the short 1979 season, in 1980 the car improved with the renewed Marlboro-Alfa Romeo team. During the season, Giacomelli got two fifth places, a thirteenth place and a pole position in Canada.

On August 1, the season was marred by the tragic loss of Patrick Depailler who died in a crash testing his 179 at Hockenheim during a private test session ten days before the actual race.

His seat was temporarily taken up by Mario Andretti who took part with the 179B-004 at the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort and at the Italian Grand Prix at Imola. It was his last race in F1 because he was permanently replaced by Andrea de Cesaris who debuted in F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, the "Typo 179" proved faster and faster so much so that the 179B-006 allowed Giacomelli to capture pole position at Watkins Glen where he led the entire race with a large margin and only at the last few minutes of the race was betrayed by a Marelli coil meltdown which took away a victory that had been almost a certainty.

The Alfa Romeo  "Tipo 179" driven by Vittorio Brambilla at Watkins Glen 1979.

1980 Alfa Romeo "Tipo179" and Patrick Depailler.

1980 Alfa Romeo 179 V-12

Alfa Romeo 179B with Bruno Giacomelli

1981 Alfa Romeo T179  V-12 cylinder  3000 cc.  At the Las Vegas race in 1981 Bruno Giacomelli finished third ...20 seconds behind the winning car.

1981 Alfa Romeo T179B  V-12 cylinder  "Tipo 1260" 3000 cc  presented to the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile of Torino by Alfa Romeo S.p.A., Milano.

The Autodelta team with Mario Andretti.

Alfa Romeo 182

Text by Roberto Motta 

Italian Motorsport Journalist

 Photos by Roberto Motta and press-BMW group e 

Courtesy of Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo, Arese

 Copyright Robert B. Little   2021

Beautiful and yet unfortunate, the Alfa Romeo Typo 182 lived only one season. It was the last Milanese chassis propelled by the Autodelta V-12 engine to win a pole position and it was the first to adopt the turbocharged V-8 engine

During the 1981 season, the Alfa Romeo 179 was seldom able to get satisfying results.  If we exclude the first Grand Prix races where it started from the front row of a few starting grids, the 179 experienced overall a disappointing season.  Its disappointing performance was 'softened' somewhat at the end of the Formula One season when Bruno Giacomelli managed to achieve a 4th place in the Grand Prix of Canada and a 3rd place in the Caesars Palace Grand Prix of Las Vegas.

Beyond the cold statistics, however, it must be remembered that the scarce competitiveness of the car was partly due to the forced use of Michelin tires caused by the withdrawl of Goodyear at the end of 1980.

The new Michelin radials forced the Autodelta technicians to redesign the entire suspension system.  Even the FIA's abolition of miniskirts at the end of the 1980 season... which had made it a competitive car ...negatively affected the characteristic aerodynamics and chassis adhesion to track surfaces.  

Finally, the arrival of French engineer Gerard Ducarouge, which occurred in mid-August, allowed the team to improve the car thanks to the use of variable flexibility side skirts, but undermined the future of Alfa Romeo in Formula 1 racing.

In the early days of 1982, while the team was preparing the new car, the then General Manager of Alfa Romeo S.p.A. Ettore Massacesi decided to limit the general overall authority of Ing. Chiti by appointing him president of Autodelta.

This decision placed Chiti in a minority situation and allowed for a wider field of authority (autonomy) for Ducarouge...who cunningly helped orchestrate these circumstances in his ultimate favor.  

Eliminating Carlo Chiti from the company he helped organize in 1965 was the Machiavellian goal of Ducarouge.

The 1982 season presented itself to Alfa Romeo as potentialy quite interesting but, in spite of the forecasts of 'experts', started with disappointing results.

The new car, the 182 with its new Ducarouge-designed carbon fibre chassis, was not yet ready to enter the 1982 season ...therefore the Milanese manufacturer decided to enter the first races of the Formula One year with their old 179 cars.

On 23 January the 1982 season got underway at the South African Grand Prix on the track at Kyalami.  Alfa Romeo fielded 179s for Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris who, after a mediocre race, sadly finished in 11th and 13th place. In the subsequent Grand Prix of Brazil, on the Jacarepagua circuit, both 179 cars were forced to retire.

On April 3, 1982, in Long Beach, in qualifying practice for the US-West Grand Prix it was an unforgettable day for Alfa and de Cesaris.  During the tests, the '182-02' (race number 22) driven by a surprising de Cesaris obtained pole position.  The second car, '182-01', entrusted to Bruno Giacomelli and earned an encouraging 5th fastest time in qualifying.

The following day, at the start of the race, de Cesaris's '182-02' started in strong command of the field, but was forced to retire during the 33rd lap due to a road exit.

The accident was caused by a distraction of the driver de Cesaris who had crashed against a protective wall after seeing... through the rear-view mirrors... suspicious smoke escaping from his car.

Giacomelli's '182-01' stopped on lap 5 due to an accident with the Renault of Rene Arnoux.

For the more curious in Long Beach there was also the chassis '182-03'...a newly created spare used as the practice 'muletto'..

As announced by the English teams, the next San Marino Grand Prix on 25 April, Alfa Romeo was prohibited from occupying the garage stalls registered with the Formula One Constructors Association.  In the course of qualifying with a field reduced to just 14 cars, Giacomelli's '182-01' won the 6th fastest qualifying time while the '182-04' of de Cesaris took the 7th position on the grid. 

Race day was like a cold shower for Alfa Romeo.  On the 4th lap the fuel pump of de Cesaris's car failed... while on lap 24 the V-12 of Giacomelli took its last breath due to the rupture of an oil pipe.

The following weekend the Belgian Grand Prix was marred by the fatal accident in which Gilles Villeneuve lost his life. 

It was Saturday May 8th during the qualifying practice when Villeneuve's Ferrari 126C2 hit the rear wheel of the Jochen Mass March car that preceded him at a slower pace and had moved away to leave the passing lane free for Villeneuve ...who was busily engaged in his fastest lap. 

The Canadian did not understand the intention of Mass, and his Ferrari was catapulted into the air by the rear wheel of the March. Villeneuve was thrown out of the cockpit... harnessed securely to his seat... hit a stake with the back of his head.  He died shortly there after.

For the Alfa Romeo team it was yet another race to forget. Giacomelli's '182-01' did not even finish the first lap due to an accident, while the '182-04' of de Cesaris stopped on lap 34 due to a broken drive shaft.

In the pits there was also the '182-03', used as the 'muletto'.

1982 Alfa Romeo "Tipo 182" with the "Tipo 1260" V-12  3000 cc engine.

From a sporting point of view, while the 8-cylinder turbo engine was being tested by Giorgio Francia on the Balocco track, Giacomelli and de Cesaris had been forced to compete with a 12-cylinder now outdated compared to the turbo engines of Ferrari and of Renault.   Moreover, even the chassis designed by Ducarouge  never reached its intended dreams or aspirations due to the new regulations that prohibited the use of miniskirts.

The 182 could have been competitive, but unfortunately it did not have that reliability which would have allowed it to accumulate kilometers of speed and endurance to discover further improvements in the car.

For example, before entering each race, all the exhausts pipes... made of precious titanium... were replaced with fresh material. However there was never a  competition where one or more of the titanium pieces didn't break...resulting in a loss of engine power.   

The 182 was also plagued by a series of minor failures, each rather insignificant, but collectively forced the surrender or a poor race outcome.

Perhaps the 182 model lacked a little luck.

The absolute harmony of the team with the manufacturers who are not members of the Formula One Constructors Association disrupted the programs of the Milanese technicians who kept faith with the agreements... a legality that other builders did not respect.

The season ended with the team achieving tenth place in the constructors' championship. Such a result highlighted the team's technical and managerial difficulties.  During this disappointing season, Masaccesi reconsidered the participation of Alfa Romeo in the championship reserved for F1 cars. 

He feared he was being held responsible for an adventure that has become more and more for the Milanese manufacturer rich in investments and poor in results. He was convinced that the Italian government's control of Alfa Romeo through its IRI should to intervene drastically and decisively to limit the future of the motor racing department named Autodelta.

Initially Massacesi also considered the opportunity to completely leave the world of F1, but, after carefully analyzing the situation, considered it a retirement that could be interpreted by customers as denying the traditionally sporting image of the company.

In the same period, Nicolò San Germano, a young Philip Morris manager, was instructed by his  parent company in Lausanne to follow and support the Alfa Romeo Marlboro sponsorships.

He proposed to the management of the Milanese company to sell the Formula 1 team and to entrust its management to the Euroracing team owned by Gianpaolo Pavanello.

Pavanello distinguished himself in Formula 3 by winning Italian and European championships. According to the Marlboro man, such a choice would have guaranteed the reduction of management costs and the increase in sponsorship revenue since the activity would no longer be managed by a 'state company', but by an agile private organization. 

Having heard that, Massacesi decided to entrust to Euroracing the management of the Formula 1 team starting from the 1983 season. The new team could have counted on steady supply of 8-cylinder and turbo engines along with Autodelta technical assistance.

With this decision, the Alfa Romeo adventure, or rather that of the 'real' Alfa Romeo, ended with the 1982 season, although in reality a team substitute continued under the banner of the Euroracing Team.

During the 1983 season, the new 183T cars, powered by the turbo engine were entrusted to Mauro Baldi and Andrea de Cesaris. The season was catastrophic, so much so that both drivers preferred not to renew their respective contracts.

With the loss of its main sponsor, Marlboro, the cars received a new livery supported by Benetton. Piloted by Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever, they sailed in the sea of anonymity, so much so that after a thousand controversies and problems, that could not and should not have involved the Alfa Romeo brand name, the management of the Milanese manufacturer decided to withdraw from the world of the Grand Prix racing, and to continue the supply of turbo engines at Osella until 1987.

1982 Alfa Romeo Tipo 182 with Bruno Giacomelli.

These largely unsuccessful F1 cars of the 1981 were essentially the final cars built by Autodelta in Settimo Milanese "in house" before the takeover of the construction activities by outside vendors such as Advanced Composite Components ... building the new 182 in 1982.  

The planning and general supervision of this 1981 car was maintainted by Ing. Carlo Chiti....this car only achieved a 4th place in Canada and a third place in Las Vegas.

1983 Alfa Romeo 183T  V-8 1500 Turbo

1983 Alfa Romeo 183T  V-8 1500 Turbo

This completely new fabrication of an Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car was named the "182", built largely of lightweight honeycomb carbon fiber materials and weighing under 1,200 pounds...said to have been built in only 90 days in the UK by Roger Slomans.  It was introduced to the public on February 25, 1982 in downtown Milano.

1982 Alfa Romeo 182 1500 V-8 

1982 Alfa Romeo chassis in carbon fiber

1984 Alfa Romeo 184T/C  1500 V-8 Turbo

1984 Alfa Romeo Euroracing 184T/C  V- 8 cylinder 1500 Turbo

The Alfa Romeo 'Tipo 890T' Turbo

Alfa Romeo 'Tipo 415/85'

In anticipation of providing the engines to Team Ligier, Tonti and his staff gave life to the 'Tipo 415/85' engine project, i.e. 4 cylinders, 1.5 liters and 1985 (year of construction).

At the start of development tests, the engine was filled by a Weber-Marelli electronic power supply system, the most advanced system of its time,  and it was able of push out 830-850 hp at 10,500 rpm, in a race configuration.

In its latest evolution, the one destined to the Ligier for the 1987 season, the 'Tipo 415/85', was characterized by bore and stroke dimensions of 92.0 and 56.4 mm (1499cc) and push out 900 hp at 10500 rpm.

The engine had a compact structure (it weighed only 135 kg), it was made up of 1364 pieces, and required 230 hours of work for its overhaul, compared to the 325 hours required for the rebuilding of the previous V-8.

After a long series of dyno tests, the engine was mounted on a Euroracing chassis and tested on the track by the Ligier drivers. During some tests at Imola, Arnoux made some highly questionable claims on the working capacity of the 'Alfa Romeo' team.

The response of the new Alfa Romeo management, which in the meantime had passed to the FIAT group, was immediate and equally harsh: on the eve of the 1987 season, the collaboration relationship with the transalpine team was deleted  and the project was stopped.

It was a real shame if you consider that the engine had proved to have excellent qualities and the development on the track had just begun.

With the 415 / 85T project frozen, the company's investments were diverted in favor of a new engine, the 'Tipo 1035' V10 with a V of 72°  and 3.5 liters of displacement.

This was the very last Formula 1 Alfa Romeo car supervised by Ing. Carlo Chiti before his withdrawal from employment with Alfa Romeo S.p.A.  This car, known more appropriately as the 184 T/C was tested for the first time on January 11, 1984 at the Balocco testing facility...a few days after its public introduction.  

Ing. Chiti then immediately joined Piero Mancini in forming a new company Motoro Moderni a short drive away from Settimo Milanese in nearby Novara.

Ligier-Alfa Romeo 

The Alfa Romeo four cylinder 415 / 85T 

Alfa Romeo Type 1035

Aware of the future change in regulations that provided for the introduction of 3.5-liter naturally aspirated engines in F1 from 1989, the Alfa Romeo management decided to use a 72° V-shaped 10-cylinder engine.

The project officially started in November 1985 under the leadership of Ing. Tonti.

The Alfa Romeo 1035 (10-cylinder-3.5-liter) engine was the first 10-cylinder in the history of modern F1 (Honda presented a dummy of the engine just a month after the Italian V-10 was made, and Renault would make its V-10  a year later).

This V-10 was characterized by bore and stroke measurements of 88.0 and 55.5mm (3495cc). The heads, the cylinders, the engine block, were in an aluminum alloy,  connecting rods was made by titanium,  and the pistons (with two segments) was cooled with an oil jet. Initially, the heads had a a distribution system with 4 valves per cylinder,  but later the system was replaced with new five valves per-cylinder heads.

The valves were made in titanium, and activated by 4 camshafts.

The first technical meeting to set up the 10-cylinders engine was on 7 October 1986, in which Tonti, D 'Agostino and Antoniazzi participated.

The engine design work began after that the FISA-FIA technical commission and the manufacturers decided on the new rules on naturally aspirated engines, during a meeting in the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix in 1986.

The engine had its first tested on the bench on 1 July 1987.

In its latest version, the engine delivered 620 hp at 13,300 rpm with a maximum torque of 39 kgm at 9500 rpm.

This engine was first mounted on the 164 Pro-Car and then on the fantastic and wonderful Group C SE048.

Both cars were never used in the race, in particular the SE048 never made even a single lap of the track.

These are previously secret photographs of an Ligier chassis with an experimental Autodelta Turbo-charged four cylinder engine being tested by Autodelta prior to the closure of its activities.  Much of this development work on the V-10 and the 4 cylinder turbo pictured here in the images above was the result of research and development carried out by Ing. Gianni Tonti

Commentary;    "The End of Autodelta"

by Roberto Motta

When  Autodelta F1 driver Bruno Giacomelli said the “182” cars were the last true Autodelta cars…what did he really mean???

For Giacomelli, the 182 was the last Autodelta cars because they were the last cars that were officially supported to the championship by Autodelta S.p.A....up to the point in time when the 183T was produced and entered by Euroracing.   

Few knowledgeable people would dispute the opinion of Bruno Giacomelli because he was an Autodelta F1 driver.

The story

Ducarouge was fired by Ligier at the 1981 British Grand Prix.

Ing. Chiti, who esteemed him as a frame builder, hired him, and the French technician began the design of the 182.

In this period Ettore Massacesi, President of Alfa Romeo, therefore a man of IRI, the governing body that owns Alfa Romeo and so also of Autodelta, began to undermine the Alfa Romeo set-up aiming to retire from competitions. which he considered too expensive for a company in crisis to bear.

From a technical point of view, the 182, the first single-seater made entirely of carbon fiber, was designed by Gerard Ducarouge, at the Autodelta.

The 183T, a car that was managed by Pavanello's Euroracing, was powered by the turbo V8 designed by Ing. Chiti.

The 183T was the evolution of the 182T that had debuted in the tests of the Italian Grand Prix in September 1982.

The car was designed by Gerard Ducarouge who followed the project and the initial phase of development, together with Mauro Tolentino.

From a political point of view, the truth was that the Alfa Romeo top management wanted to eliminate Autodelta and to get there they began to divide it.  (see the page on this site entitled : The Death of Autodelta.)

While Ducarouge assumed the role of Technical Director, Chiti had loose parts of his decisional power.

With this new situation, Chiti no longer had total decision-making control in Autodelta.

At the height of governance, above Chiti and Ducarouge, there was a general manager, Massacesi, who referred to IRI, and who had been charged with liquidating everything and everyone.

Towards the end of 1982, Massaccesi, through the sponsor Marlboro, decided to continue his demolition work, and made an agreement with Euroracing for the management of the F1 cars. All the material was given to the Pavanello stable on loan (practically free of charge).

It was the premise of the total cancellation of Autodelta, a situation that became operational at the end of 1984 with the departure of Carlo Chiti.

In the spring of 1983, Ducarouge was fired from Alfa Romeo, after the episode of the empty fire extinguisher on De Cesaris's car.

Clearly a pretext!

For the 1984 season, Alfa Romeo entrusted to the Euroracing the design and construction of the chassis of the future 184T.

Ing. Chiti was appointed president of Autodelta, and was ousted from F1 sporting activities, and Autodelta would take care of the supply of the engine.

The last car that was formally followed by Chiti on behalf of Alfa Romeo was the 184T, (only because Chiti was the Autodelta's President) a car that made its ‘shake down’ on 11 January 1984.

In November 1984 Chiti met with the President of IRI, Romano Prodi, and informed him of his resignation.

Over the following year, together with Piero Mancini, he founded 'Motori Moderni’ to build a new engine that would be brought to the track by Minardi.

Ciao.

...the Alfa Romeo team withdrew from Formula One competition in 1985...

Formula 1 is one of the most followed and exciting sporting disciplines in the world, which sees the best drivers and teams compete on circuits all over the world. 

In 2017, the F1 season saw the strong rivalry between Mercedes and Ferrari, who competed for the world title until the last race.

In Italy, the Monza race was one of the most important of the season, both for its history and its emotions. The race took place on September 3 and declared Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes the winners. Hamilton preceded teammate Valtter Bottas and German driver Sebastian Vettel with the Ferrari.

Most people will not remember that the race was also the opportunity for a meeting between the patron of F1 Bernie Ecclestone and the then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, to discuss and find an agreement to continue competing the Italian Grand Prix on the Brianza track in Monza.

The Formula season ended on November 27th with the victory of Lewis Hamilton who preceded Sebastian Vettel with a gap of 46 points. Mercedes won the 'constructors title' with 668 points, and had preceded Ferrari with 522 points and Red Bull Racing with 368 points. The season also experienced some surprises, such as the victory of the Belgian Max Verstappen with Toro Rosso at the Austrian Grand Prix, the pole position of the Finnish Kimi Räikkönen on Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix and the pole position of the Brazilian Felipe Massa on Williams at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

But for F1 fans, and more particularly for the lovers of the Italian brand of the 'Biscione', there was still welcome news and, on November 29th a press release appeared in all the newspapers of the world: after over 30 years of absence from the F1 world, with the goal of regaining its past glory and competing with other teams in the world, Alfa Romeo announced its return to F1 Champoiniship.

The Milanese brand had signed a multi-year technical-commercial collaboration agreement with the Swiss Sauber team, giving rise to the formation of the 'Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team' from the 2018 season.

The Agreement, strongly desired by the then CEO of the FCA Group (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), Sergio Marchionne, was a "strategic, commercial and technological" collaboration between the two companies.

In practice it was announced that the Alfa Romeo function in F1 was to provide a technical and financial basis for the development and innovation of the engine, which was designed together with Sauber and other partner companies. The team tried to enhance its brand and its history, bringing the Biscione symbol and the Alfa Romeo name on the livery.

However, in the years that followed, despite Marchionne having declared: "Alfa Romeo returns to Formula 1 with the Sauber team to write a new chapter in its legendary sporting history",  Alfa Romeo failed to obtain good results in the races, both for the performance of the cars, the drivers force and the strategies during the race.

Formula 1 2018: Quadrifoglio Is Back

In 2018, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team marked the return to the circuits of the magical symbol of the "Quadrifoglio", the legendary emblem that since 1923 had enriched the livery of Alfa Romeo high-performance cars.

Clearly visible on the bonnet of the new C37, the lucky symbol has a fascinating history that is intimately linked to the world of racing.

The first Alfa Romeo car to bear the 'Quadrifoglio' symbol on its livery was the RL 'Corsa', a car which was one of Giuseppe Merosi's masterpieces and which took part in the Targa Florio.

The choice to place the lucky symbol on the bodywork was due to the awareness that however intense the effort, how valid and perfect the project and every detail, how great the sacrifice was to achieve the result, it was essential to have even a little of luck.

With this in mind, and with a poorly concealed superstition, the company decided to paint a lucky charm on the bonnets of its cars: a green four-leaf clover.

The talisman worked in the right way and Ugo Sivocci won the race preceding his teammate Ascari.

It should be noted that Sivocci's car was enriched by the symbol of the green four-leaf clover on a white background in the shape of a diamond, while Ascari's car had the green four-leaf clover on a triangular background. It was a great victory that definitively launched the brand into the Olympus of manufacturers, and transformed the 'Quadrifoglio' into a truly distinctive logo of all Alfa Romeo racing cars.

The same lucky emblem also appeared on Brilli Peri's 'P2' when he triumphed in the first "World Motoring Championship" in Monza in 1925, winning the first of the five World Titles won by Alfa Romeo, and was present again in 1950 and 1951 when Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio drove the Alfa Romeo 158 and 159, the famous 'Alfetta', to victory in the first two Formula 1 World Championships. After years of oblivion, with participation in the 2018 championship, the legendary symbol returned to motor racing to show the world the continuity of the Alfa Romeo philosophy, based on a constant search for excellence applied to racing, to be then transferred in its entirety to production cars.

The context

The 2018 F1 World Championship took place in a motorsport context characterized by some innovations and technical challenges. Among these, we remember: the introduction of the Halo system, a protection device for the drivers' heads, which required aerodynamic and structural modifications to the single-seaters.

The reduction in the quantity of engines available per season, which dropped from 4 to 3, with consequent penalties for replacements, the change of tire supplier, which saw Michelin replaced by Pirelli, and which led to a greater variety of compounds and racing strategies affecting the team.

The strong rivalry existed between Mercedes and Ferrari, the two most competitive teams, who competed for the title until the last race. 

The affirmation of some emerging talents, such as Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly, who challenged and, at times, put more experienced drivers into crisis.

In this general context, we must remember that the return of Alfa Romeo to F1 was welcomed with enthusiasm by the fans of the Swiss team Sauber, and by those fans who saw the agreement with Sauber as the possibility of seeing the Alfa Romeo brand again in racing competitions. F1 after 32 years of absence.

They were convinced that the cars, driven by young emerging drivers Marcus Ericsson and rookie, Charles Leclerc, would have a great development opportunity. This is because Casa del Portello had 'Ferrari' as its technical supplier. Furthermore, the fact that the C37 used a turbocharged Ferrari V6 engine, and the entire rear configuration, starting from the gearbox, to the transmission group, to the suspensions, up to the central layout of the bodywork derived from Ferrari, convinced the younger fans that the car could have been competitive and had glory days.

But not all fans were as optimistic. In particular, those who had some gray hairs and who had experienced the history of Autodelta and Alfa Romeo in the top formula were more skeptical or indifferent to the partnership with Sauber, and preferred to concentrate their attention on other teams.

One of the most important criticisms was dictated by the choice to use Ferrari power units, a choice that was considered a lack of ambition. These fans, and part of the industry press, considered the partnership with Sauber as a mere commercial agreement, which had no impact on the quality of the cars or the possibility of winning. Thus, alongside journalistic articles which celebrated the return of the legendary 'Quadrifoglio' as a symbol which since 1923 identifying ithe most high-performance Alfa Romeo racing creations, and which appeared on the bonnet of the new C37, other articles reported a certain disappointment underlined by the words : “…yes, well, but there isn't much about Alfa Romeo on a technical level, since, at least for the moment, it's a mainly commercial partnership”.

However, looking back at history after these last few years, we can affirm that even if Alfa Romeo fans had different opinions on the partnership with Sauber, they were all involved in an experience that nevertheless marked the Biscione era in F1, and which had an impact significant not only on Alfa Romeo, but also on Formula 1 as a whole.

The Sauber C37 was officially presented on  February 20, 2018 in the conference room of the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese. It was the first time that the launch of a Sauber single-seater aroused so much interest, at least in Italy. On that occasion, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne declared: 

“Now we are ready to give Alfa back the place it deserves in the panorama of sporting competitions. Today is a day of pride for all Alfisti who have waited for this moment for over thirty years." 

He then added that 

"Alfa Romeo would be the title sponsor and that it would share resources and skills with its fellow adventurers, not only technical and engineering, but also strategic and commercial, to actively support the team, starting right from the supply of the same to the team power unit of the 2018 Ferraris."

In fact, it should be remembered that, in the 2017 season, the Sauber C36 used a 2016 evolution Ferrrari engine. Therefore, the new agreement guaranteed a certainly significant step forward for the team that had been the least competitive in 2017.

The drivers were also present and said they were satisfied with the car which would certainly guarantee an increase in competitiveness compared to the racing season that had just ended.

The ritual speeches followed and, on that occasion, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur stated that he was eager to see the new car on the track and that he hoped that the new car had been able to improve the car's performance over the course of the season and recover the gap compared to the other teams.

Technical director Jörg Zander said he was excited to finally unveil the C37 a car that was the result of the hard work of all team personnel.  The philosophy behind the C37 differed significantly from that of the previous C36, and of having hopes that with the C37 the team would be more competitive than the previous one season.

Everyone, and absolutely everyone, starting from the team, the drivers, the journalists and the fans themselves, couldn't wait to discover on the track how the new single-seater, which would debut on February 26th in the first collective tests in Barcelona, performed.

The Initial Tests

The first laps of the Sauber C37 took place on the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona, from  February 26th to March 1, 2018. These were collective tests in which the other teams involved in the F1 world championship also participated.  The Alfa Romeo Sauber team showed a good level of performance, especially on the first day of testing, when Ericsson set the 2nd fastest time overall. 

Leclerc had some difficulties adapting to the new car and achieved the 4th fastest time. On the second day of testing, Ericsson improved his time, but was relegated to third place in the standings, while Leclerc, who had set a record, was forced to stop testing due to technical problems.

On the third day of testing, both drivers improved their performances and finished with the 5th and 6th fastest overall times. The debut was therefore positive and suggested the possibility of improving during the season and obtaining interesting results.

The 2018 Championship 

The championship kicked off on March 25th, 2018 at the Albert Park circuit, in Melbourne.  In testing, the C37 achieved the 17th and 18th times, achieved by Ericsson and Leclerc.

During the race, Ericsson's C37 was forced to retire due to hydraulic problems, while Leclerc took 13th. It was therefore not a debut to remember but, in his way, it was positive and, as they say, the die was cast, and the new adventure had begun.

In the Bahrain Grand Prix things went a little better; the C37 obtained its first points thanks to the 9th place of Ericsson, who led an attacking race starting from 17th place on the starting grid.

After an anonymous race in Shanghai, the Swiss team returned to the points in the following round in Baku, where Leclerc obtained a flattering 6th position, a result that will remain Sauber's best placing throughout the championship.

The Monegasque driver confirmed his positive moment in Montmeló, managing to score another point.

In Monte Carlo the Swiss team did not have a fruitful weekend; Leclerc did not finish the race and Ericsson finished outside the points.

In the following two races, in Montreal and Le Castellet, it was Leclerc who scored points again, finishing in 10th place on both occasions.

In Spielberg Sauber proved to be very competitive with Leclerc and Ericsson who, for the first time, both finished the race in the points, in 9th and 10th place respectively. In the Silverstone race both drivers were forced to retire.

At Hockenheim, only Ericsson scored points by finishing in 9th place, while the following weekend in Budapest, for Sauber, was not positive and did not score any points.

In Belgium, on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, one of the most beautiful circuits in the world, the C37 scored another point thanks to Ericsson's 10th place, while Leclerc was forced to retire.

On September 2nd, on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix, F1 landed on another of the historic circuits of the world of competitions, the Monza circuit, the third oldest permanent circuit in the world ... considered the temple of F1 speed because it is the route that is followed at the highest average.

For the Italian fans it was a special day; Sebastian Vettel on the asphalt of Spa had stripped Hamilton on the first lap, remaining in the lead from start to finish.

In testing, the Ferraris of Vettel and Räikkönen took the front row, making the Ferrari fans dream as they hoped for a memorable double. There were also many hopes for Alfa Romeo Sauber, which wanted to do well on its home track, but which obtained a sad 17th and 19th place.

However, Ericsson and his C37 had their brief moment of glory, and made the Alfisti dream: After Hamilton's pit stop on lap 28, Ericsson and the C37 moved ahead of the Mercedes. The Swede held off Hamilton for a few laps, then on lap 31, Hamilton overtook him with extreme braking at the first chicane.

In the end, the race saw Räikkönen's Ferrari take 2nd place, and a dull day for the Alfisti, who finished in 11th and 15th place with Leclerc and Ericsson.

In Singapore Leclerc obtained 9th place and Ericsson 11th, while in the Russian Grand Prix the two drivers obtained 7th and 13th place respectively. In Japan only Ericsson finished (12th) while Leclerc was forced to retire, results that were also confirmed in the following United States Grand Prix, where the FIA confirmed the Grand Prix dates for the 2019 season and made public some of the technical choices for the new championship.

In Mexico, the C37 got a new dose of life and achieved 7th place with Leclerc and 9th with Ericsson, results which improved in Brazil with 7th and 8th place obtained by Ericsson and Leclerc.

On November 25, the 21st and final race of the season took place on the Yas Marina circuit. The race saw a good 7th place for Leclerc and Ericsson's abandonment due to engine failure. The race was won by Hamilton with Mercedes who preceded Vettel with Ferrari and the young Dutchman Verstappen with Red Bull. Hamilton also preceded Vettel in the final standings of the Drivers' Championship, and Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship, for the 5th time in a row, ahead of Ferrari.

Our heroes, Leclerc and Ericsson, finished in 13th and 17th place, bringing Alfa Romeo-Sauber to 8th place in the Constructors' Championship. 

Consideration on the season

Sauber was one of the surprises of the 2018 championship, going from being one of the least competitive teams to one of the best among the mid-table teams. Thanks to the performances of Charles Leclerc, who achieved 10 points finishes, including four 7th places, he obtained 48 points which allowed him 8th place in the constructors' classification.

With the collaboration of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, he had taken the right path, also thanks to the fact that he had access to updated engines and valid collaborators within the team, such as Luca Furbatto chief designer and Simone Resta technical director since mid-2018.

Strengthened by the results obtained, the team faced the 2019 season with the awareness of being able to obtain even better results.

At the end of the season, Charles Leclerc was awarded Formula 1 "Rookie of the Year" by the FIA, and his enormous talent allowed him to be hired by Ferrari for 2019.

Leclerc, who finished the championship with 39 points, had a wonderful season and, speaking of the C37, his first F1 car, said:

“The C37 is a great machine, with which we have achieved impressive results. The starting base of the car has been good this year. I think that in the first three races we were unable to exploit the full potential of the car. Once we understood how to perfect the balance of the car we took a huge step forward, which will have updates throughout the season. 

"The leap compared to last year is impressive, just look at the results. We stopped the updates a while ago, but we're keeping the same performance, so it's definitely a strong machine. We didn't expect to have such a positive end to the season after stopping the development of the car. I believe this has allowed us to have more time to develop the car that will race next year."

The Swede Ericsson scored 9 points but proved to be a driver who was always available to the team, often sacrificing himself to favor the strategies that favored Leclerc.

Ericsson had some moments of glory, taking 9th place in Bahrain, 10th place in Germany and 9th in Mexico, where he resisted attacks from Lewis Hamilton for several laps.  He left F1 at the end of the season, remaining a reserve driver for Sauber and racing in IndyCar, a category in which he will also take part in 2024 with a Honda-Dallara of the Andretti Autosport team.

One last curiosity, the C37 was the last chassis to keep the Sauber name. Starting from 2019, the name of Frederic Vasseur's team lost the Sauber name and, after a season of partnership with the Milanese brand, took on the name Alfa Romeo Racing. The Swede Ericsson scored 9 points during the entre season. 

The 2019 F1 season

Text by Roberto Motta 

Italian Motorsport Journalist

The contest

The 2019 F1 championship was characterized by some regulatory changes and strong competition between Mercedes and Ferrari.   Among the changes introduced, there were choices aimed at increasing the spectacle offered by the competing cars. For this reason, new standards were introduced for the front and rear wings in order to reduce aerodynamic turbulence and facilitate overtaking.  A new car weighing system was also introduced, which avoided penalizing the heaviest drivers, and the adoption of a new logo to better promote the championship.

For the Alfa Romeo brand, it was the beginning of a new era, a year after starting the technical partnership with Sauber.  Alfa Romeo had acquired the complete naming rights of the team, which took on the name 'Alfa Romeo Racing'. 

The Italian brand returned to the grid for the first time since 1985 and the 2019 season was full of expectations for fans of the brand. These expectations derived from the good outcome of the 2018 championship, despite the car not having been updated in the last Grand Prix, a choice which had allowed us to focus on the development of the new C38. In addition to the calmness of the team's declarations, expectations had grown with the formalization of the new riders.

In fact, on September 11th 2018, the return of Kimi Räikkönen to Sauber for 2 years starting in 2019 was announced, followed, on September 25th by the official announcement promoting Antonio Giovinazzi to the rank of starting driver. Räikkönen gave up his place at Ferrari to the promising Charles Leclerc, and returned to Sauber, where he had already been a driver in 2001. 

'Iceman', as Kimi was called for his ability to remain totally inexpressive in the face of any event, had won the Championship F1 Drivers' Championship in 2007 with Ferrari, so he would have brought great experience to the team and would have certainly helped Giovinazzi grow.

The young Italian driver, who had been the third driver for Sauber and Ferrari, made his F1 debut in 2017 when he drove the Sauber C36 in the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix, replacing Pascal Wehrlein, the starting driver, who was injured during pre-season testing. Finally, Marcus Ericsson took over the role of third driver.

At the start of the Championship, Alfa Romeo Racing had set itself the objective of improving the 8th place obtained by Sauber in 2018, and was counting on an improvement in competitiveness, thanks to the arrival of the Ferrari E64 hybrid engine, of the technician Simone Resta.

As for actual performance, Raikkonen finished the season in 12th place in the drivers' standings with 43 points, while Giovinazzi took 17th place with 14 points. Results which, beyond the circumstantial words, suggested that the Alfa Romeo Racing team did not completely achieve the objectives that the men of the team had set themselves.

More generally, we must remember that the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, organized by the FIA, was the 70th season to award the drivers' championship and the 62nd to award the constructors' championship.

The championship began on March 17, 2019 and concluded on December 1, after twenty-one races.

The championship saw, once again, a duel between Mercedes and Ferrarri, and saw Lewis Hamilton win the drivers' title for the sixth time, while Mercedes won their sixth consecutive constructors' title. This allowed the German team to equal the record held by Ferrari from the period 1999 - 2004. Furthermore, Hamilton once again set the record for the highest number of points scored in a season (413), beating that of the previous year.

The Alfa Romeo Racing C38

On February 14th the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 did a shakedown, doing a few laps with Kimi Raikkonen on the Fiorano track owned by Ferrari.

For the occasion, the single-seater sported an ad hoc livery: a black base with small red triangles, inside which was enclosed the four-leaf clover, the distinctive symbol of the racing cars of the House of Biscione. The hearts were a tribute to the day dedicated to Valentine's Day

At the end of the tests, Kimi told the press: 

"We had a good session on the track. The car performed well and I was able to get a first impression of the car that we will use this season. We will work on the final details and then we will go to Barcelona to two weeks of testing. I'm looking forward to getting to know the car better there."

A few days later, on February 18, 2019, while pre-season testing was taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the C38 made its official public appearance.

The car was unveiled at 8.30am, exactly 30 minutes before the F1 cars took to the track for the first time in 2019.

The presentation began with the speaker's statement who underlined that there were many new features and more precisely, they were:

New name: the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team has become Alfa Romeo Racing. Structure, ownership and management remain the same, the name changes.

New drivers: Kimi Räikkönen, known as 'Iceman', and Antonio Giovinazzi, nicknamed 'Giovi', thanks to the Title Sponsor Alfa Romeo, will have the opportunity to drive the Stelvio, with race number 7, and the Giulia with the No. 99.

New livery: already new in 2018, this livery is even more exciting, because it combines the classic colors of the traditional Sauber team (white and blue) with the iconic red, symbol of one of the most historic brands in the racing world, Alfa Romeo.

New Sponsors: Lately, with press releases rolling out for new partners, the Marketing department seemed like an airport hub in constant motion.

After a brief description of the technical characteristics of the car, the speaker underlined how the Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, the Technical Director Simone Resta, and all the staff had worked in the winter months to give their best and that everyone, absolutely everyone, saw it was time to demonstrate the potential on the track and to be sure that important results could emerge.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG, said he was proud to present the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 declaring; 

“…a car that is the result of the great work carried out by each member of our team, both in Switzerland than on the track. The new livery enhances the characteristics of last year in a more decisive and bold way." 

He concluded by saying that the team expected great progress and aimed to achieve great results.

Simone Resta, Alfa Romeo Racing Technical Director declared: 

"Since I joined the team last year, I have seen continuous growth on all fronts and I am really happy to see the result of the hard work done this winter which has brought to the new Alfa Romeo Racing C38. We have set ourselves ambitious goals for this season, which sees a significant change in the regulations, especially regarding aerodynamics, and we are looking forward to receiving their feedback in the next two weeks of testing, in preparation of the first Melbourne Grand Prix".

Ultimately Räikkönen and Giovinazzi said they were eager to test the car on the track.

Among the curiosities relating to the single-seater, we point out that the C38 was the last F1 to appear with the definitive livery to face the season, but one of the first cars to take to the track for the filming day, as if to underline the great desire of the team to compete on the track.

Technically the C38 was the natural evolution of the C37, and represented a further development of it. It used a frame made of honeycomb composite material with carbon fiber. The front suspension consisted of double wishbones, with internal spring and shock absorber units operated by tie rods; the rear suspension was of the multilink type, with internal spring and shock absorber elements operated by tie rods.

The mechanical heart of the car was the Ferrari type 064 EVO V6 90° engine, with a displacement of 1.6 liters obtained with bore and stroke measurements of 80 x 53 mm. The centrally mounted engine was equipped with a turbocharger and a 120 kW electric motor. The engine had a rotation speed of 15,000 rpm. The power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ferrari eight-speed sequential gearbox withsteering wheel controls.

One last curiosity, the car, as underlined by the Sauber Engineering writing on the side, was born in Hinwil, but was equipped with the Ferrari power unit, and was the fruit of the ideas of many Italian technicians, starting with Simone Resta and Luca Furbatto.

The first tests

From February 18-21st and subsequently from February 25th to March 1st, 2019, two weeks of pre-season testing took place on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona circuit.  In view of a season that promised great battles on the track, as often happens...the performances of the cars and drivers left room for interpretation.  And in front of Ferrari's results, with Vettel the 'winter champion', who set the best time and Leclerc who obtained third half, Hamilton entered with the 2nd half. Part of the international press claimed that Mercedes had probably not wanted to reveal the cards before the championship, and that Hamilton had actually held back.

Regarding the Alfa Romeo Racing C38, we must remember that, in the first week of testing, it performed impressively. On the first day of testing, Giovinazzi made his track debut on the C38 and completed 100 laps. Even without looking for performance, he got the 5th time. At the end of the day he was visibly satisfied and declared: 

“I think at the beginning of the day I was a bit to be broken in too, but it was a positive day... Compared to last year's car a big improvement has been made I would say . It's definitely a car that was born well."

In the second week of testing, the car's performance seemed to have declined, and Raikkonen and Giovinazzi achieved 13th and 16th times respectively.

During the first laps of the track, Kimi had a small accident, going off the track at turn 5. However, the car was quickly repaired and continued to participate in the tests.

Although the first tests proved to be more challenging than expected, the unstoppable optimism of the pilots and technicians did not suffer any repercussions. The team, with unwavering determination, was certain they could surpass the previous season's performance.

The 2019 championship

With the dawn of March 17, 2019, the world of car racing was preparing to experience an unprecedented Formula 1 championship. That day marked not only the beginning of a new season of breathtaking races, but also coincided with two anniversaries of historical importance: the celebration of 70 years since the birth of the first Formula 1 Championship.   

This was an event that marked an epochal turning point in the world of racing and the 90th anniversary of the founding of Scuderia Ferrari, a brand that has written unforgettable pages in the history of Formula 1. This double celebration infused to the 2019 edition of the championship of a unique charm, creating a perfect union between the glorious tradition of past and the constant innovation of the present.

For the Alfa Romeo Racing C38, the crucial moment had arrived to verify whether the decisions made during testing would lead to positive results in a real racing situation. On the 1st day of official testing, the C38 achieved 9th and 14th times with Räikkönen and Giovinazzi.  This did not completely satisfy the team, a feeling which became even more evident when, addressing the press, Räikkönen said: 

“I'm a bit disappointed... Now we face the first two corners of the race without incidents and then we start from there...". Giovinazzi, who had achieved the 3rd time in free practice, added: "Qualifying didn't go well, but we have a good car and a good race pace and tomorrow we will have the chance to fight for points in the race...".

On the day of the race, Bottas and Hamilton, both driving a Mercedes, dominated the competition, marking the beginning of an era of domination for the House of the 'Star', which was then consolidated with an impressive series of victories in the championship arc.

For the Alfa Romeo C38, the race was positive. After a long period of abstinence that continued since 1984, when the 184T and Riccardo Patrese achieved 6th place at the European Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo returned to the points thanks to the 8th place achieved by Kimi and his ' Giulia'. While 'Giovi' led his 'Stelvio' to 15th place.

During the post-race statements, the team was satisfied with the result and expressed confidence in the possibility of improving. Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur, said: 

“We go home with 4 points, which is good. Starting the season with a car in the top ten is certainly a good result...'. 

Both drivers said they were satisfied with the car and were eager to return to racing in Bahrain.

Starting from the Bahrain Grand Prix, an internal struggle began within the Mercedes team, whose drivers competed practically without major opponents. Hamilton won the next 6 Grand Prix races, and the consecutive series of victories was interrupted at the Austrian Grand Prix, when Verstappen and his Red Bull-Honda took victory.

During the Chinese Grand Prix practice, Giovinazzi was unable to obtain a qualifying time for some power-unit problems. At the request of the team he was authorized to start the race by the stewards.

The races followed one another quickly and, after 7th place in Bahrain, Kimi achieved 7th place as his best result in the French Grand Prix, while 'Giovi' achieved mid-section results with 10th place as his best result on the occasion of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Among the most challenging races faced by the C38 we remember the Monaco Grand Prix, where Kimi and Antonio finished in 17th and 19th place respectively. During the second part of the championship, Kimi suffered two heavy retirements and a 'breath of fresh air' with 4th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he preceded teammate Giovinazzi. 

On the occasion, Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG said: 

"We can be really happy and proud of this result. Bringing two cars to the points just outside the podium is the reward for the hard work of everyone team members. We didn't lower our heads in the races where we were unlucky and now we can celebrate our best result of the season". 

Kimi declared: 

"... it's nice to finally be able to celebrate our best result of the season as a team. It was a great day positive and we finally managed to get the result we worked so hard". 

'Giovi' declared: 

"I am very, very happy today, both for myself and for the team. What a great race, it was a fantastic way to celebrate the my contract for next year with two points-scoring cars".

The championship ended with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but for the C38 it was a last race with mid-field results, with 13th place for Kimi and 16th for Antonio.

Frédéric Vasseur declared: 

“We end this season with a challenging race, but we will not let this overshadow the good work we have done this year.” Kimi said: “Today we did everything we could do…”, 

While Antonio added: 

“We fought to get a good result today, but we couldn't finish the season in the points… It's been a season in which I learnt a lot of lessons.  it will all help me when I get back to the start line in Melbourne Grand Prix the next year …”

Considerations on the season

The 2019 Formula 1 season, which saw 21 Grand Prix from March 17th to December 1st, was dominated by the large power of Mercedes and the talent of its top driver, Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton won his 6th world title (and third in a row), while the German team Mercedes obtained their 6th consecutive title in the constructors' championship, thanks to 15 victories, ten of which were consecutive, with 11 victories for Hamilton and 4 for Bottas.

The other contenders had 'just the crumbs': Verstappen, on the Red Bull Racing-Honda, won 3 Grand Prix, while the Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Vettel, on the Ferrari F90, won 2 and 1 Grand Prix respectively.

In the second half of the season, Ferrari dominated the headlines with a series of poles and victories from Spa onwards. Toto Wolff's Mercedes team lost almost half a second in qualifying compared to Ferrari and almost three tenths compared to Red Bull, who used a Ferrari Power-Unit. This loss of competitiveness for Mercedes triggered a series of controversies which led the FIA to investigate the legality of the Ferrari power unit. Controversies that continued even after the conclusion of the championship.

As for Alfa Romeo Racing, although Alfa Romeo-Sauber had been one of the surprises of the 2018 championship, the 2019 season was not a big step forward. However, at the end of the championship, Frédéric Vasseur declared: 

“…we can look back on a season in which we scored more points than in 2018 and made giant strides in terms of performance.”

Kimi, in an interview, said: 

“…We learned a lot from this match and we can use it to improve for next year. It's impossible to guess where we will be, but we want to come back stronger. We have made some progress this season, but we want more." 

Giovinazzi, who completed his first full season in F1, said: 

“…It was a season in which I learned a lot: everything will help me when I return to the starting line in Melbourne the next year. I'm happy with how I improved during the year, we can improve and we will do our best to have an even better season in 2020."

Analyzing the season with the eyes of an Alfa Romeo enthusiast, the season was not so engaging. After a good start to the season, which saw Alfa Romeo return to the points, the team achieved mediocre performances, with some occasional improvements (in Brazil). Overall it was a decent season, with the feeling that better management was needed, and more attention in pit strategies.

But, as we know, the numbers that remain written in the annals show the same 8th place in the constructors' classification obtained in the previous season. The result was obtained with 57 points instead of the 48 obtained in 2018, but Alfa Romeo Racing remained a mid-field car and had improved more than the competition. Ultimately, for enthusiasts, the name Alfa Romeo deserved and should have given more.

Regarding the drivers, we can say that Raikkonen's experience and driving style were essential and allowed him to accumulate points. In the second part of the season, the car's loss of competitiveness forced it to produce mediocre results, excluding the good 4th place obtained in Brazil. However, the Finnish driver was always motivated and ready to fight on every occasion.

As for Giovinazzi, he had a progressive season; from the insufficient results obtained in the first part of the season, to more positive results added in the second part of the season... when he managed to maintain Raikkonen's pace. 

For lovers of statistics we would like to point out that the chassis least used in the race was the '01', which took part in two Grand Prix (Hungary with Kimi and Belgium with 'Giovi'). The most used chassis was the 04 which took part in 15 Grand Prix (6 with Kimi and 9 with Giovinazzi). Chassis 06 was the only one to be raced exclusively by Raikkonen, who used it on 7 occasions.

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The context

2020 will remain etched in collective memory as the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, an event that disrupted human life globally, influencing every aspect of society from the economy to sport.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the state of pandemic on March 11 and to give a unique and sustainable response to deal with the situation, established guidelines with rules to deal with the global health situation and to start a system of negotiations that would provide socio-economic support to help the most affected countries. At the same time,  some researchers from all other countries of the world collaborated to quickly develop safe and effective vaccines against Covid 19.

As we all remember, many nations adopted social distancing and lockdown measures to contain the infection. These actions, although effective in containing the pandemic, caused a devastating socio-economic impact leading to the loss of lives and livelihoods.

Going beyond the sporting theme of the article, we would like to underline that, according to the World Health Organization, between 2020 and 2021 there were approximately 14.83 million deaths worldwide associated with Covid-19.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, with the message “With great hope I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency” global”), declared the pandemic over with a statement dated May 5, 2023.

However, it is good to keep in mind that on January 3, 2024, the WHO itself communicated that although the pandemic was over, the Covid-19 virus was and is still a threat to global health.

Returning to our article, we remember that, in 2020, the world of F1 also faced unprecedented challenges.

The start of the championship, scheduled for March 15, was postponed and followed by the cancellation of the inaugural match. After a series of postponements, the start of the championship was set for July 5th with the Austrian Grand Prix.  A protocol for the health checks of all personnel involved in the competitions was issued by the FIA. Furthermore, the competitions took place under a quota regime which provided for a limit on the presence of professionals, journalists and the public,...to the point in some cases, of the total absence of the public.

For 2020, the FIA had approved new technical rules with the aim of drastically reducing costs. These rules limited upgrades to the Power Units (Engine and Gearbox).  The mechanical components and impact structures were limited thanks to the use of a token system that allowed teams to make a very small number of changes.

However, due to the pandemic, it was decided to postpone the introduction of the new generation of single-seaters, which was scheduled for the 2021-2022 season. This postponement was made mainly to contain costs, which could have been fatal especially for smaller teams with limited budgets.

The development of a large list of components was also frozen, including the chassis, the gearbox, as well as a series of mechanical components and safety structures.

Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance won his seventh world title, thus equaling the number of titles held by Michael Schumacher. Mercedes won its seventh consecutive world constructors' championship.

Despite the difficulties, the F1 championship took place and ended on December 13th, after seventeen races, responding to the pandemic emergency and still providing an exciting championship.

Regarding Alfa Romeo Racing, it presented a new single-seater, the C39, a car that represented a completely new single-seater concept, designed with the aim of consolidating the progress of the last two years, and approaching the performance of the fastest teams.

The Alfa Romeo Racing C39

On February 14, on a cold winter morning, the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C39 had its shakedown on the Fiorano track, owned by Ferrari. For the occasion, the car was distinguished by an iconic 'snake skin' livery, designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Centre. In designing this livery, the Alfa Romeo Style Center was inspired by one of the dominant icons of the brand, the heraldic "Biscione", therefore developing a car model with a paint job that took up its shape.

In addition to this special 'skin', the bonnet featured a new and exclusive interpretation of the heart-shaped Alfa Romeo logo: a tribute to Valentine's Day and the day that all lovers celebrate.

It should be noted that the snakeskin motif not only gave the car an exotic appearance, but also camouflaged the car's secrets which would be in evidence at the official launch, scheduled for February 19 in Barcelona.

The car entered the track at 9.37 and, driven by Kimi Räikkönen, covered 33 laps, with Kimi demonstrating that he had more and more confidence in the car with each lap, causing the car to curl in the track's tight bends, and contort it in the fast corners, thus exploring the car's true capabilities.

On February 19, before the start of winter testing in Barcelona, Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN unveiled the C39, and with it drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, together with reserve driver Robert Kubica and development driver Tatiana Calderon.

The presentation took place in the pit lane of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and the drivers themselves removed the cover that hid the features of the C39.

The 2020 livery marked a further step forward compared to previous years: it continued with the themes and layout of the classic Alfa Romeo racing colours, but at the same time introduced a look with new graphic effects, developed by the Style Center and the "Speed-Pixel ": a graphic evocation of speed and time in what was the brand's 110th anniversary year.

The car's graphics featured a simplified four-leaf clover design and an enlarged Alfa Romeo lettering on the bonnet which now overlaps the main logo. On the rear bonnet stood the iconic Alfa Romeo symbol which unites the Cross of the ancient coat of arms of the city of Milan and the "Biscione" of the Visconti family. The emblem represented 110 years of glory and victories, and at the same time looked to the future.

Designed and developed under the coordination of Technical Director, Jan Monchaux, the C39 vaguely resembled the previous C38. However, it represented a completely new concept that aimed to help the team continue its progress on the track.

Already during the presentation, it was clear that the technicians' attention was focused on the Barcelona tests. These tests would leave just six days of on-track action before the season opener in Melbourne, Australia.

On the occasion, Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG, said 

"...the C39 is the product of the hard work and vision of a large group of highly committed people and is testimony to the quality of all members of our team...Our goal has not changed: tomorrow we want to do a better job than we did today. We are a growing team and we still need to improve in every single area and in every single department of the company...".

Jan Monchaux, Technical Director declared 

"The C39 is a natural evolution of last year's car, even if it doesn't share much with its predecessor. We have further improved our car... It's the usual process of constant improvement, but it's a brand new beast. We expect to improve on what we achieved last season, to take a step forward and hopefully we can fight for the top position in midfield."

Technically the C39 sports numerous and striking changes, denoting a decidedly aggressive approach to the championship. The monocoque chassis was made of honeycomb composite material with carbon fiber. The suspensions, the cooling system and the bonnet appeared modified compared to the previous single-seater, to reconcile the needs of aerodynamics with the efficiency of the individual components. The rear suspension maintained the particular multilink layout of the C38 instead of the more traditional quadrilateral. The upper arms, however, are more inclined downwards towards the center of the car. In addition to the influences on aerodynamics, this choice allowed the roll center to be lowered, giving the single-seater a more stable and docile rear end. The front suspension had been completely revised, with the brake air intakes positioned higher up for aerodynamic reasons. The upper triangle hooked onto the upright raised position, freeing up a larger area for flows directed to the rear. The oblique arm of the push-rod hooked directly to the hub carrier instead of the lower triangle, in a choice that gave the name Pushrod On Upright. Solution that guaranteed good cornering dynamics and excellent tire management.

The new Alfa Romeo C39 benefited from changes to the Ferrari type 065 EVO V6 90° power unit with a 1.6 liter displacement obtained with bore and stroke measurements of 80 x 53 mm, centrally mounted with turbocharger and a 120 kW electric motor.

Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ferrari eight-speed sequential gearbox with steering wheel controls.

The tests

The drivers called to drive the Alfa Romeo-Ferrari C39 during the six days of testing were the reconfirmed starting drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and the third, or reserve, driver, Robert Kubica, coming from Williams.

At the end of the first day of testing, the Polish driver placed in 13th position, while Antonio Giovinazzi obtained 15th place. On the second day, driver Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest lap, ahead of Sergio Pérez on Racing Point by about two tenths. On the third and final day of the first test session Giovinazzi achieved an excellent 6th position.

The second week of testing saw Robert Kubica leading everyone, while Kimi Raikkonen finished in 18th place. On the 2nd day Giovinazzi obtained 12th place, a position that was maintained the following day by Raikkonen.

The car did not prove to be a good car, but the drivers' hope was certainly high enough to lead them to say: "The sensations are good, the car will grow".

As the strong point of the Milanese single-seater, the Ferrari power unit was considered with horsepower that came close to or perhaps exceeded 1,000 horsepower and could have made the C39 a fearsome weapon capable of record performances on 'fast' tracks. The tests also left several doubts about the true competitiveness compared to the opponents.

The 2020 Season

The 2020 F1 Championship season promised to be the longest and most exciting in history, with a jam-packed calendar of 22 races. But when the world stopped due to the coronavirus emergency, the F1 circus also stopped. 

It was the weekend of March 15th, and in the garages of Melbourne, Australia, the engines were ready to roar for the first race, but an invisible enemy had invaded the paddock. A McLaren mechanic had tested positive for Covid-19. The Melbourne circuit, which was supposed to be the scene of a heated competition, quickly turned into a place of quarantine. The entire team was forced to give up the competition and the fate of the race hung by a thread. Then, a few minutes before the start of free practice on Friday, the decision fell like a rock: the race was postponed.

Not all competitors agreed, but safety was the priority.

The world of F1, like the rest of the world, was on pause.

After an endless series of postponements and cancellations, July 4th finally marked the start of official testing for the F1 Championship. Seven months after the last race, held under the dazzling lights of Abu Dhabi, adrenaline began to flow again in the veins of drivers and fans. The palpable tension in the air before the start of testing, the unnerving wait before the traffic lights go out at the start, the paralyzing anxiety during a pit stop, and finally the euphoria or despondency at the drop of the checkered flag: all these emotions became part of everyday life again.

The heart of the F1 Championship had started beating again.

The first qualifying session of the year was over in the blink of an eye, with the sun shining on Spielberg.  Team Alfa Romeo, full of hopes for a good start to the season, instead found itself facing a series of unexpected difficulties. 'Giovi' and Kimi placed 18th and 19th respectively, leaving Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur, to comment:

 “It was a challenging start to the weekend. Tomorrow we will have a lot to do."

Kimi, although aware of the difficult day, remained optimistic: “We are not where we would like to be, but we have time to improve. Tomorrow we will try to recover a good result. We have nothing to lose, so we will give our all." 

'Giovi' expressed himself in similar terms: 

“It's not the start we were hoping for, but we need to focus on how to improve tomorrow. We hope to make up some ground in the race."

The next day, things were much better. The Grand Prix was the scene of a great performance by Giovinazzi. On that circuit where he had scored his first points in Formula 1, 'Giovi' ran a perfect race, overcoming the obstacles of several Safety Cars and overtaking his rivals to score two points, the team's first in the Constructors' classification.

For Kimi, however, the race was marked by several vicissitudes which culminated in a technical failure causing the loss of the right front wheel and forcing retirement.

At the end of the race, 'Giovi' declared: 

“I'm really happy with today's result. After yesterday's difficult qualifying, getting into the points was the best we could hope for. The race wasn't easy, but it's only the first of the season. I can't wait to get back in the car next week."

For the record, Bottas and Mercedes stood at the top of the standings, followed by Leclerc and Ferrari.

The hopes for improvement remained in reality only hopes, and for the entire championship the C39 sailed in a position of more than mid-field, with the exception of the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna, where it managed to finish with both drivers in points zone: Kimi obtained 9th place and preceded 'Giovi'.

It was a memorable day for the team so much so that Frédéric Vasseur, the Team Principal, declared: 

"The team delivered a good performance as a whole... Bringing home our first double points finish of the season is a good reward for our efforts There's still a lot of work to do, obviously, but we're making progress and we were in the right place to take advantage of how the race went."

Kimi said: 

“It was a good result for the team, with two cars scoring points, so we can be happy with our race…obviously there is still a lot to improve, but we continue to work hard for this." 

While 'Giovì' declared: 

"It was a good result for the team... recently we have closed the gap with the other competitors. Obviously there is still a lot to improve, but we continue to work hard for this".

For the more curious, we remind you that, as reported in the race documentation, Kimi had chassis 05/Ferrari and Giovinazzi had chassis 04/Ferrari at his disposal.

The remaining races, regardless of what was reported in the words of the managers and drivers, were not satisfactory. The C39 continued to sail in the upper-middle part of the ranking. For the statistics lover, we would like to point out that during the championship Kimi took chassis 02 (in the first 4 Grand Prixs) and 05 (in the following 13 Grand Prixs) to the race, while Giovinazzi always used chassis 04.

Kimi finished in the points on 2 occasions, with 9th place in the Tuscan Grand Prix and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He collected only one retirement, in the Austrian Grand Prix, and finished the championship in 16th position with 4 points.

Giovinazzi obtained 9th place in Austria and 10th place twice in the Eifel Grand Prix and in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He finished in 17th place with 4 points.

The constructors' classification was merciless fpr Alfa Romeo, and 8th place was obtained with 8 total points. To confirm the lack of competitiveness of the Ferrari 'Power-unit', we recall that the Haas team finished in 9th place with 3 points, and the Ferrari manufacturer obtained a sad 6th place with 131 points, while Mercedes won the constructors' championship with 573 points.

Ultimately, the C39 proved to be in decline compared to the previous season....almost always far from the top ten, and in qualifying often eliminated already in Q1.

Considerations on the season

As already mentioned, the 2020 F1 season was unique and memorable for various reasons, both from a human, technical and sporting point of view. From a human point of view: The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the entire world society and, obviously also on the racing season. The start of the championship, scheduled for March 15th with the Australian Grand Prix, was postponed to July 5th with the Austrian Grand Prix. This represented the third longest stop ever for this sport, in which 217 days passed between the last race of 2019 and the first of 2020. The races took place behind closed doors, with a paddock without an audience and with very few accredited journalists to access the circuits.

From a technical and sporting point of view: there was nothing new at the top of the standings, with Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance winning the championship with 11 victories. For Hamilton it was his seventh world title, thus equaling the number of titles won by Michael Schumacher. Mercedes, with 13 victories, won his seventh consecutive world constructors' championship. The result does not deceive the ease of victory, in fact Hamilton faced various problems during the season and took on the work of testing many settings on his car, which had repercussions on his performance in the first half of the season. 

The Mercedes W11 suffered from 'porpoising' problems, which causes the vehicle to bounce on straights at high speed. A huge difficulty which required several modifications to the underside of the car before being resolved. Despite the car problems, both Hamilton and the Mercedes team demonstrated remarkable ability to adapt. Hamilton's victory was therefore the result of a combination of rare driving skills, an effective race strategy and the ability to overcome technical challenges. 

Regarding Alfa Romeo, it is undeniable that Raikkonen and Giovinazzi had a difficult season, with the team finishing in 8th place in the constructors' standings. 

But, despite having achieved the same result as the previous two seasons, the result is perplexing if we take a look at the number of points won to understand the performance. 2018 ended with 48 points, 2019 with 57, while 2020 with only 8; with 4 points each for the two drivers. We must highlight that, despite the lack of competitiveness of the car, the drivers were able to give their best thanks to their talent. 

For example, when Kimi managed to get into the points despite the 5" penalty imposed on him at Mugello; or when in Portimao, where he started from the back of the grid, he moved to 10th position on the first lap. This feat earned him the victory of the FIA Action of the year. 

For his part, Antonio boasted the record of the greatest number of positions gained at the start: his starts were exceptional on several occasions, as in Imola... when starting from 20th position, he moved to 15th place on the first lap. In this season, Giovinazzi showed that he had grown professionally, and won the duel with Kimi with 9 best qualifying points. The comparison in the race instead saw Kimi win 12 to 5. The latter result was influenced by Antonio's retirements and the race strategies implemented by the team in favor of Kimi. 

Technically the C39 had problems mainly due to the lack of power of the Ferrari Power-unit, weakened after the agreement in the winter of 2019 which remained secret with the FIA.

It was precisely the weakening of the Power-unit that contributed to poor straight-line speed. This is demonstrated by the fact that the drivers almost always occupied the last positions in qualifying; Giovinazzi and Kimi entered in Q3 only in the Turkey Grand Prix, obtaining the best placing of the season: 8th Kimi and 10th Antonio.

Furthermore, we must remember that the engineer Simone Resta, who had drawn up the lines of the project in the previous season, was called back to the headquarters by the Maranello team.

The withdrawals from the races occurred for the most disparate reasons, from the loss of the poorly secured right front wheel on Kimi's car in Austria. Giovinazzi's three retirements: a driving error in Belgium, a restart accident after the Safety Car at Mugello and the last in Turkey due to a gearbox failure.

It was evident that race strategies and pit stops were often inefficient.

The fans' vision was negative, with a team that did not obtain a passing grade despite a team that had tried to improve and keep hopes for the future alive.

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The 2021 Season

Text by Roberto Motta 

Italian Motorsport Journalist

Images Courtesy: Stellantis Media

The context

The 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season was one of the most competitive and exciting in the history of motorsport. It started on March 28 and ended on December 12, entering the annals of motor racing as the longest championship in the history of F1 with 22 races. This required an unprecedented commitment from the teams, who faced a series of logistical and technical challenges to maintain performance at the highest level.

2021 represented a turning point for F1, with the introduction of new technical regulations which, as had already happened in previous years, were aimed at encouraging overtaking and increasing the spectacle on the track. Choices that led to a series of exciting races.

Among the new features we remember the improvement of braking effectiveness, thanks also to the installation of larger ventilation air intakes and the freezing of modifications to the transmission for 5 years. The use of 18" tires, which became operational from the post-season tests on 14 and 15 December, when all ten teams involved in 2021 returned to the Abu Dhabi circuit.

The most important regulatory choice was the introduction of the 'budget cap' which provided for a maximum expenditure of $145 million for the total management of the team.

Marketing amounts and the salaries of the drivers and the three main team managers were excluded from the calculation of expenses.

Once again, 10 teams took part in the championship, among which two teams had a major rebranding at the end of the previous season: Racing Point, previously known as Force India, transformed into Aston Martin. While, Groupe Renault, the multinational group behind the Renault F1 team, removed the Renault name and replaced it with Alpine.

The Alfa Romeo Racing C41

Monday 22 February 2021, at 12.05pm. Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN unveiled the new single-seater for the FIA F1 World Championship in the Grand Theater in Warsaw. Unfortunately, the pandemic situation was still burdensome and, in compliance with the health regulations relating to Covid, the event was entirely virtual, with the possibility of accessing live streaming through official social channels.

The presentation of the car was followed by the traditional press conference attended by the drivers Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica, reserve driver, as well as the Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur and the Technical Director, Jan Monchaux.

The first peculiarity of the car was in the name, C41, which did not follow the classic numbering order that the C40 denomination would have expected.

Aesthetically, the livery of the C41 proposed a color combination, specially created by the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, which featured the traditional colors of the brand; red and white.

The bodywork of the C41 sported the Alfa Romeo logo flanked by two traditional symbols: the Quadrifoglio, which had accompanied Alfa Romeo's sporting activity since 1924, and the sign of Autodelta, the legendary team of the brand.

Designed under the direction of Jan Monchaux, the C41 was an evolution of the C39, used in the 2020 season. Like the other competitors in the race, due to the restrictions imposed by the regulations, the C41 inherited many components from the previous car. However, the single-seater featured some innovations for which the technicians used two 'tokens'. We remind you that the 'tokens' are a 'bonus' system introduced in 2014 to manage the development of the cars. Some car components are 'frozen' and cannot be freely modified. To make changes to these components, teams must use 'tokens'. Each team has a limited number of tokens to use for the season, which limits the amount of development the team can do, resulting in keeping costs down.

As mentioned, the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN engineers used the tokens mainly to optimize the internal and external aerodynamics of the car's nose.

The engine supplied by Ferrari also underwent new development and, as stated by the managers, the car would take part in the first pre-season collective tests in Barcelona, Spain.

The press release reported that Alfa Romeo would compete in the 2021 F1 World Championship together with the Swiss Sauber Motorsport team as has happened since 2018, when Alfa Romeo appeared for the first time as the team's 'title sponsor'. But the partnership between the two companies provided for both technical and commercial collaboration, allowing the technical skills of Sauber Engineering to be transferred to the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, which took advantage of the invaluable know-how of the engineering and aerodynamics departments of Sauber AG, which would produce much of the carbon fiber aerodynamic components for the car's body.

The new Alfa Romeo C41 benefited from changes to the Ferrari power unit type 065/6 EVO V6 90° of 1.6 liter displacement obtained with bore and stroke measurements of 80 x 53 mm, centrally mounted with turbocharger and a 120 kW.

Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ferrari eight-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters.

Furthermore, the Ferrari 65/6 engine was credited with more power and torque and had undergone various improvements to increase its reliability, two factors that had a negative impact on the performance of the Maranello engine during the 2020 championship

During the presentation Frédéric Vasseur, Team Director Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG, said: 

"The presentation of a new car is always an exciting moment, the culmination of months of effort by everyone at the factory and the start of a new adventure…we finished last season in 8th place, so we must aim for a better result in 2021. To achieve this, we must improve in every department, both on the track and at the headquarters…Everyone takes it for granted that we have done a good job over the winter and to be well positioned for the first race. Soon it will be time for everyone to put their cards on the table."

Jan Monchaux, Technical Director Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, said: 

"The C41 is the result of a very unusual situation in Formula 1. The regulations did not allow us to develop a completely new car for 2021. This is why the C41 shares many components with the 2020 C39. The exception is the parts that we had to change due to the new regulations... we know the 2021 car much better than usual when we get to the first test. However, it will be essential to make the most of the next three days of testing. We need to verify that reality corresponds to simulations and also learn about the new tires. We are ready for the new season and can't wait to see our new car on the track."

Raikkonen, who would soon celebrate his 20th year of racing in F1, when asked where he found the incentive to compete in F1 again, in pure 'Iceman' style said laconically: 

"Time passes quickly. Obviously it's been a long time, but in the middle of this period I've been out of F1 for a couple of years, so it doesn't feel like 20 years. Racing and driving are the things that excite me the most. I've never been a big fan of anything else... but I like the racing and the challenges of trying to make things better and get better”.

The tests

On Friday 26 February 2021, the Alfa Romeo C41 made its track debut on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The car driven on the track by Robert Kubika completed 29 laps without any reliability problems.

At the end of the tests Kubica declared: “It's always a special moment to be the first to drive a new car. The goal today was to make sure everything worked as expected and that all systems were functional… The car performed well and I look forward to driving it once again later in the season.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal said: 

“Today's work is a crucial step in our preparation for the season and I am pleased to announce that the day went as planned. We were able to carry out all the checks we had planned and now we can concentrate on analyzing this first data and prepare for the next test in two weeks."

The car then returned to the track for the Bahrain pre-season tests, which took place over three days from 12 to 14 March in Bahrain.

During the first day of testing, 'Giovi' achieved the 6th time and Kimi the 12th. On the second day Giovinazzi obtained 5th place, while on the third and final day Kimi managed to get a good 4th place overall.

As the checkered flag fell to mark the end of the three days of testing, a calm 'Iceman', after having completed a total of 229 laps, only 8 less than the workaholic Pierre Gasly at the wheel of the Alpha Tauri-Honda, declared: 

“The times in the tests are distorted by the fact that we don't know how the other teams performed. Whether they preferred to keep their performance veiled or not, But we know how our car performed. In terms of sensations, we can say that it is better than last year. I believe we are also faster than when we were at our best towards the end of 2020. However, if this translates into a better performance in the races, we will see it later in the race."

'Giovi' declared: 

“Despite the difficult conditions with the wind and sand, I never had any particular problems. The car seemed stable to me and could be driven with pleasure. It seems like a project born well and we can be satisfied with the work done. Although it is difficult to imagine a leap in performance that would see us permanently in the fight for the top ten, it undoubtedly seems that the new C41 has the potential to make a leap forward and get closer to/enter the midfield".

Ultimately, for Alfa Romeo, it was a positive test session - the kind it hadn't seen for some time. Enough to make some of the rival teams say that Alfa Romeo was the real surprise of these three days in Bahrain.

Sure that part of the progress was also due to the new Ferrari engine, Alfa Romeo approached the season with renewed enthusiasm, aware that it had, at least from what the drivers said, a more competitive single-seater.

For the record, we point out that the fastest was Verstappen with the Red Bull-Honda. Followed by the surprising Yuki Tsunoda with the Alpha Tauri-Homda and Carlos Sainz with the Ferrari SF21. While the Mercedes were decidedly subdued. The best times achieved by the drivers in the top 9 places were achieved using soft tyres.

The 2021 season

The Championship featured a calendar packed with 22 races, promising to be the longest and most exciting in history. Many of the actions relating to the competitions still took place under a health safety regime which included the total absence of people not involved in the event, or with a limited presence of staff and public.

Thus the Australian Grand Prix, on 12 January 2021, originally scheduled as the inaugural race of the championship, due to problems related to the COVID pandemic, was moved to November.

The start of the championship was postponed by a week with the Bahrain Grand Prix

During practice for the Grand Prix, Verstappen achieved the fourth pole position of his career and, for the first time since 2013, the first pole position of the season was not won by a Mercedes-powered car. Hamilton and his Mercedes still took second place. For the C41, the outcome of the tests was not positive: they obtained 12th place with Giovinazzi and 14th with Räikkönen. Even if the team's statements showed a slight enthusiasm. 

Kimi declared: 

"Not bad for the first qualifying of the year: sure, it could have gone a little better, seeing as I made a couple of small errors here and there in my laps, but it could have gone a lot worse... We'll have to see how the weather tomorrow, do our best and see what we can get from the race. We are confident that our package is better and that we can fight for a good result."

'Giovi' said: 

“We can be really happy with this result because tomorrow we will start just outside the top ten and with a free choice of tyres. We have an excellent opportunity to get a good result, as our performance was close to that of the cars ahead of us. … We have to put everything together, strategy, start, pit stops and get the most out of our cars, but we can definitely aim for points.”

Also optimistic was the statement from Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal said: 

"Our goal was to get both cars into Q2 and we succeeded. We also got very close to the top ten and losing Q3 by less than a tenth proves really the progress we've made since last year... However, there's still a lot of work to do... but we've definitely made some big steps in the right direction."

During the race, Verstappen managed to maintain his position at the start, but then lost it in the final laps to Hamilton. The latter achieved his ninety-sixth victory in the world championship. Bottas, Mercedes' second driver, completed the podium, followed by Norris. Yuki Tsunoda, making his world championship debut, finished the race in 9th place, scoring his first points. He was the first Japanese driver to do so since Kamui Kobayashi in 2012.

For our heroes driving the 'Biscione' car, the time of disappointments began with 11th and 12th place. However, the team declared itself proud of the result obtained in a race which saw only two retirements. In the post-race press release, we read that drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi held their own in the middle of the group and fought on equal terms with their direct rivals.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Director declared: 

"Today's race showed the progress we have made over the last twelve months. Our two drivers drove a dominant race, leaving behind two Alpines and an Aston Martin and finishing the race directly behind the other Aston Martin...Both drivers have shown that they are capable of fighting for a position in the top 10 and we can look forward to the season that is about to begin with optimism...".

Kimi summarized things in his unmistakable 'Iceman' fashon: 

“It wasn't a bad race. I had some good battles and my car performed well. But obviously it's disappointing not to score championship points when you've been in the top 10 for most of the race… It shows clearly that we have taken a step forward compared to last year. But we still have some work to do to close the gap to the top five teams. We continue to fight to take this small step."

Giovinazzi added: 

"Compared to the first races of the 2020 season, we are significantly faster and have a better car. So we can be happy with the step forward we have made. Unfortunately, this was not enough to score championship points today. But we are very close top 10 and we can constantly fight for points... I hope we can get a good result to make the fans happy in the home match."

The Chinese Grand Prix, initially scheduled as the third event of the season, was postponed to a later date and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was inserted in its place, which became the second stage of the season. We remember that the year before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was inserted to replace and Grands Prix not held due to the pandemic

On April 14th, we played at home, in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but once again things didn't go right.

It could have been a fascinating story. Imagine if the Alfa Romeo team, with its C41, had managed to resume the success it had achieved with the C39. The 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, at the end of the season, where the 'Biscione' car had scored its last points, would have been the ideal starting point. This could have marked the start of the conquest of the first points of 2021.

Instead it was a chaotic race, starting on a wet but dry track with drizzle still falling in places, which saw Kimi and Antonio running in the top ten for most of the day. Then, a terrifying accident between Bottas and Russell led to the red flag being shown. At the restart Kimi and Antonio restarted in P8 and P11. After various vicissitudes and the introduction of the safety car, Kimi finished in 9th place and, due to a pit stop, Antonio finished in 14th position.

And then, hours after the race, the cold shower that wasn't waiting for us arrived, with Kimi being penalized by 30 seconds, thus losing those two points that he had fought so hard for.

Kimi, who had overtaken to avoid endangering the other competitors behind the Safety Car, lost two positions. A penalty that the commissioners themselves struggled to understand, which made little sense from a sporting point of view.

Frédéric Vasseur declared: 

"Once again we have shown that we have a car capable of fighting for points on Sunday, although we regret not having brought home what would have been a very positive result... apart from this problem, and the penalty which took the two points away from us, today's result gives us confidence for the next races, even if it was another reminder of how small the margins are in the middle of the pack and how we need to continue to improve to stay ahead of our closest rivals ".

Kimi said: 

"It was a good comeback after yesterday and taking points from P16 on the grid would have been a great story. The conditions were very difficult, the track was slippery and never dried completely...We struggled a bit more after the red flag, but we were able to use the track layout to our advantage and keep everyone else behind to finish in P9. Unfortunately we then took this penalty which means we have nothing to show, but at least we can look positively our performance. We fought for points for two races in a row, we hope we can continue to improve further."

Giovinazzi stated: 

“We were having a fantastic race until our problem and it was about finally being able to show our true potential in the race. The conditions at the start of the race were very difficult, they reminded me of Hockenheim 2019 with very high visibility. Kimi and I were both in the points and finishing with both cars in the top ten was definitely on the cards, but unfortunately we had a technical problem with one of the brakes which required a pit stop... we have a good car and we can fight for a top ten finish in most races. Hopefully luck will be more on our side in the future and we can get the rewards we deserve."

As with the previous year, hopes for improvement remained hopes, and for the entire championship the C41 always sailed in a position above mid-table, with the exception of the Russian and Mexican Grand Prix, where Kimi obtained 8th place and the Arabian Grand Prix where 'Giovi reached 9th place

There were also some embarrassing moments like in the Portuguese Grand Prix where Kimi eliminated himself due to a contact with 'Giovi'

Antonio and Kimi, who started in P12 and P15 respectively, seemed destined to fight for the points zone throughout the race: a good start put the Finn in a good position, but contact with his teammate ended the race prematurely. Iceman'. Antonio, with the remaining C41, finished in 12th place.

At the end of the competition Kimi said: 

"You never want to have contact with your teammate, and this time unfortunately it was my mistake. I was caught by the slipstream and ended up driving into Antonio. I couldn't do much after that. , the front wing got stuck under the car and I couldn't steer: all I could do was go straight into the gravel…The only positive aspect was that at least Antonio didn't suffer any damage and was able to continue".

Antonio declared: 

“I feel like we got everything we could from today's race: it wasn't possible to get so close to the top ten. After the contact with Kimi, from which fortunately I did not suffer any damage, and the Safety Car, nothing happened in front which left me or really difficult to get into the points…We will continue to work hard to get into the points soon."

Frédéric Vasseur said:

"It was a see-sawing Sunday for us: on the one hand we lost a car due to a contact between teammates, which is one of the worst things that can happen, in a sporting sense, to a team; on the other hand, Antonio did a really good job with the remaining car, keeping most of our direct rivals behind him and finishing just outside the points...".

The remaining races, regardless of what was described by the usual words of circumstance of the managers and drivers, were not satisfactory. The C41 continued to sail beyond the upper-middle part of the chart. For lovers of statistics, we would like to point out that during the championship Kimi took chassis 04 to the race (in the first 9 GPs) while he used 05 for the remaining Grand Prix, with the exception of the Belgian and Russian Grand Prix where he had 02.

After the first 5 Grand Prix, in which he used chassis 03, Giovinazzi had chassis 05 and 02 at his disposal

Kimi finished in the points on 2 occasions, with 8th place in the Russian Grand Prix and the Mexican Grand Prix. He collected 2 retirements, in the Portuguese Grand Prixand in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and finished the championship in 16th position with 10 points.

'Giovi' achieved 9th place in the Arabian Grand Prix and retired in the last Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi. He finished in 18th place with 3 points.

The constructors' classification was merciless, and 9th place was obtained with 13 total points.

Ultimately, the C41 proved to be a further decline from the previous season.

For 'Iceman' it was the last race before leaving the team, and with a hint of melancholy he said: 

“It was nice to see so many people show their appreciation today, even if the race didn't go as we hoped... This is racing , sometimes things fail, but today's outcome doesn't affect how I feel about my career. I'm happy to move on to a normal life, I can't wait. Of course, I will miss many of the great people I have met over the years; 20 years went by quickly, I made many memories, some good, some bad, and these will stay with me forever."

For the fans, however, one certainty remained: Iceman had been great. He never showed any signs of discouragement and, even in this last phase of his career, he demonstrated his willingness to always give his all.

Kimi announced his retirement from competition on September 1st

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN expressed all its gratitude to Kimi with these words: 

”...for the incredible seasons spent together in these two stints; for the work ethic, the passion for racing, the determination for success that he has shown from his first test in Fiorano up to the debriefings of last week's session; And for being a unique character, always true to himself, something that endeared him to all those who worked with him and for him. The team wishes Kimi all the best for a well-deserved retirement, knowing that he and his family will greatly appreciate his presence at home after the final checkered flag in Abu Dhabi."

Frédéric Vasseur said: 

"There is no driver like Kimi Räikkönen. His presence, his charisma and his unique attitude, combined with his innate skill have made him a legend of our sport in a way that the numbers and statistics struggle to convey. It has been a pleasure to work with him over these years and I believe I speak on behalf of everyone at Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN when I say that a driver like Kimi has written indelible pages in the history of our team and our sport ".

Jean Philippe Imparato, Alfa Romeo CEO said: 

“Kimi is a legend of the sport and it was fantastic for Alfa Romeo to be part of his journey. He has always been a star, both behind the wheel and in our marketing campaigns. He has proven to be a phenomenon on the track, fast and determined. Iceman will always represent a milestone in the glorious history of Alfa Romeo."

As mentioned, the Abu Dhabi race was the last championship race, and was the last race for Kimi. But it was also the last race with Alfa Romeo for Giovinazzi.: On September 6th 2021, Alfa Romeo announced the hiring of Valtteri Bottas, driver who had won the title in Grand Prix F3 and who left Mercedes having been Hamilton's partner since 2017. Two months later, on November 16th, Alfa Romeo announced that it had hired the young Guanyu Zhou, the first Chinese driver in the history of F1, as a replacement by Antonio Giovinazzi.

On the occasion of the last Grand Prix the 'Giovi' mechanics wrote on the sides of the C41 'Thank you for everything Antonio'. At the end of the race, an unusually smiling 'Iceman' gave his helmet to 'Giovi', the adventure companion with whom he had shared the joys and disappointments of recent years.

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The 2022 F1 Season

Text by Roberto Motta

Italian Motorsports Journalist

Images Courtesy: Stellantis Media

The context

The 2022 Formula 1 World Championship took place during a time when pandemic restrictions had eased, bringing significant innovations to the world of motor sport and making the competition more exciting and unpredictable.

We must consider that the global pandemic has had a strong impact on the entire world economy, including F1. It is estimated that in 2020, during the health and economic emergency linked to Coronavirus, motor sports generated and involved 1.5 million people around the world, including full-time, part-time workers and occasional collaborators. Despite the challenge imposed by the pandemic, the world of racing has continued to evolve, adapting to new circumstances, and contributing in some way to the economic recovery of various countries.

The new regulation that the FIA had decided to introduce in 2021, and then postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic, was designed to reduce costs and increase the spectacle on the track, trying to level the performances of the teams to offer more competitive and spectacular enough to involve a greater number of spectators.

Among the new rules introduced, we remember the introduction of aerodynamic modifications to reduce aerodynamic disturbance and allow closer competition, the introduction of tires less sensitive to temperature to increase the possibility of duels in the race, and the increase in the weight of the cars to improve safety and force drivers to brake earlier.

Furthermore, the Sprint Race has been introduced in some race weekends, with points being awarded to the top eight finishers, and no longer just the top three. Pole position for Sunday's race is now determined by Friday's practice. Finally, points are awarded only if the race is concluded after having covered at least two laps from the end of the ‘safety car '.

The championship, in which 10 teams participated, began on March 20th with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, and concluded on November 20th with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the Yas Marina circuit, with a total of 22 races.

The Alfa Romeo F1 Team C42

A non-definitive version of the single-seater debuted on February 15th during a shakedown, prior to the Barcelona tests, on the Fiorano track owned by Ferrari. The car was characterized by a camouflage livery, the same one with which it then faced the Barcelona tests in February 23rd.

On Sunday February 27th, after an intense week of testing, the C42 was revealed in its definitive livery, in a virtual presentation with images and videos distributed to the media and enthusiasts from all over the world.

The C42 Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN was the first car produced in Hinwil within the 'budget cap 2022' that had been introduced for F1.

Designed under the guidance of Technical Director Jan Monchaux, it was radically different from the cars of the past seasons, thanks to the possibility of better exploiting ground effect, new aerodynamic solutions and 18" tyres.

Like the brand's previous single-seaters, it used a monocoque chassis in honeycomb composite material with carbon fibre, which was combined with the new and more powerful Ferrari type 066/7 EVO V6 90° engine with a displacement of 1.6 liters (80 x 53 mm), centrally mounted with turbocharger and a 120 kW electric motor.

The combustion engine was powered by a particular air-scope at the driver’s head, divided in half by the central element of the roll cage .

Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ferrari eight-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters.  The braking system consisted of 4 disc brakes featuring Brembo calipers.

The suspension uses a push-rod type system on both the front and rear.

Finally, the car rested on 18" BBS rims fitted with Pirelli racing tires. For the more curious, we remind you that the acronym BBS indicates the name of the two partners of the company and the city in which it was founded in '70; Baumgartner, Brand and Schiltach. The company went bankrupt in 2007 and was taken over by Belgian Punch International. In 2015, the North Korean Nice Corp. was added to the shareholding structure as a majority shareholder.

The C42 was embellished with a livery inspired by the historic Alfa Romeo and Sauber Motorsport brands, which celebrated the Hinwil team's thirtieth participation in the F1 world championship.

Created by the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, the livery was inspired by the Alfa Romeo cars that had competed from 1980 to 1982: the dominant colors of red and white blended perfectly diagonally. The red engine area was embellished with the historic Alfa Romeo script, as was the case on the Alfa’s racing cars of the 1920s. The 'Quadrifoglio', a symbol of sportiness, dominated the upper part of the bonnet, leaning on the diagonal meeting point between red and white.

On the rear part of the wing there was the 'Tricolore' on which the writing 'Alfa Romeo' stands out.

In the videos advertised during the presentation of the car, Jean Philippe Imparato, CEO of Alfa Romeo said:

"The 2022 championship promises to be absolutely the most exciting in recent years. The new regulations, the new driver line-up and a brand new car represent a real revolution for F1 and for the team in particular and we at Alfa Romeo, we are focused on seizing all the opportunities that arise ... ".

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal of Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN declared:

“The start of the season is always an exciting moment, in which we reap the fruits of the work that has involved hundreds of people over a long period of time. We can't wait for the C42 to hit the track…”.

Valtteri Bottas, the team's lead driver, said:

I'm impressed with our new car, the C42. It's my first Alfa Romeo F1 car, which makes it special, and I'm really looking forward to driving it in the Bahrain Grand Prix... ".

Zhou Guanyu , the first Chinese driver in F1 said :

“I'm really excited for the start of the season and seeing the C42 with the livery I will race with makes everything much more real... Everyone at Alfa Romeo has helped me from the moment I arrived in the team, and seeing everyone's work, commitment, and motivation, in Hinwil and on the track, fills me with pride and enthusiasm... "

Finally, Robert Kubica, 3rd Alfa Romeo driver, stated:

“The start of a new season is always a moment in which expectations, hopes and plans come together. This year the stakes are even higher because with the new regulation we are entering a completely unknown world... ".

The first tests

As mentioned, the C42 made its debut in the society, before being presented to the press, then, from  February 23-25, it joined the other teams to carry out pre-season tests.

Distinguished with a camouflage livery, it had three difficult days: Bottas had difficulties due to technical problems which prevented him from gathering valuable information to best set up the single-seater and the settings capable of best enhancing its potential. The problems were so persistent that the driver managed to complete only 54 laps with times far from those recorded by the competition.

For his part, the debutant Guanyu Zhou set the final time, more than 3 tenths behind Haas. 

However, despite the difficulties encountered, the team seemed to be optimistic and declared itself ready to redeem itself starting from the official pre-season tests on March 10th in Bahrain.

And it was like that.

In Bahrain, the C42 set some interesting times with Bottas, who took 11th place. The rookie Zhou had more difficulty and ended the tests with the last time.

For the record, the best time was set by Max Verstappen's Red Bull, which preceded Mick Schumacher's Haas, and the Ferrari of Leclerc.

The 2022 Season

Initially the 2022 F1 championship included 23 races but, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for September 25 on the new Sochi circuit was cancelled. After the cancellation, the management of Liberty Media, the company that manages the F1 championship, considered replacing the Russian race with a Grand Prix to be held on the Sepang or Portimão circuit. However, the agreements did not turn out positive and, with a short release dated 22 May 2022, which appeared on the X platform, the company announced that the Russian Grand Prix would not be replaced. As with the previous season, the championship was therefore played over 22 races.

We remind you that in June 2021, the Russian press had launched the indiscretion according to which the Grand Prix would move from Sochi to St. Petersburg in 2023.

The championship kicked off with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20th.

During the tests the C42 proved to be improving and allowed Bottas to obtain 8th place on the starting grid. The Finnish driver declared:

“… we were very consistent, we made good progress in every session and we got a good place on the grid for the race…Tomorrow we will be able to face the challenge with everyone around us and I can't wait for it to arrive what will be an interesting race. We need a good start. We have to hold position on the first lap and then take every opportunity that can come from there on."

The race was then a glut of points for Ferrari who took 1st and 2nd place with Leclerc and Sainz, as well as setting the fastest lap with the Monegasque driver.

Leclerc won by taking the lead from the start, Sainz took advantage of the problems that knocked out the two Red Bulls to take 2nd place, ahead of Hamilton who grabbed an unexpected podium.

The Alfa Romeo C42, despite the difficult starts of both drivers, was the protagonist of some good battles, with Zhou forging his debut in F1 with decisive overtaking and Valtteri who, using all his experience, managed to obtain an impressive 6th place, while Zhou finished the race in 10th position.

The nine points scored in the race placed the team in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, a result so encouraging that all team members were euphoric.

At the end of the race a smiling Bottas said:

"I am very happy with tonight's result: for me, but above all for the team, with two cars scoring points, and for Zhou who scored points in his first race. The race went very well, with the exception of the start…It's a great way to start the season: there are still things to improve, of course, but we're only at the first race of the year…I'm happy that we managed to finish with both cars. Everyone did a good job and we are going in the right direction."

A beaming Zhou declared: “I am so happy, it is a dream. There are so many emotions tonight, but my first thought is for the team: seeing how everyone worked so hard to go from where we were at the end of last year to where we are today is incredible. My biggest dream was to race in F1, then score points and tonight I achieved both goals. On the grid before the race, with the other 19 drivers, it was pretty crazy, but the race itself was so intense… It's a day I'll never forget and I'll enjoy the moment for a while, but then I know we could get much more ".

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal said:

"Coming home with two cars in the points in the first race is the perfect way to start the season…We will look to build on the result of this race and continue to develop our car to fight at this level."

As always, at the end of every race, there are disappointed teams and among these we remember, in addition to Red Bull, also the teams with single-seaters powered by Mercedes Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin.

Bottas's result was the team's best finish in a race since 2019.

The good start was followed by further good points finishes with Bottas, who finished in 8th place in Australia, and Imola where he achieved an amazing 5th place.

The Imola race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on April 24th was a particular race; a nightmare for Ferrari due to the Red Bull one-two that took 1st and 2nd place with Verstappen and Pérez. Furthermore, Sainz's retirement caused by contact with Ricciardo, was joined by a hard-earned 6th place for Leclerc, who finished behind Bottas' C42 .

The C42 and Bottas drove a textbook race, making the most of every opportunity.

At the end of the race, a more than happy Bottas said:

"The race was a lot of fun! It's always nice to score points. My race was strong thanks to the car, which made me feel really good. I'm happy with how the race went, even though I lost some time during the pit stop. But today I got ten points for the World Championship... At the start of the race, I had a small moment of shock when I couldn't avoid Daniel Ricciardo in the situation where he collided with Carlos Sainz. Fortunately, my car did not suffer any damage in the process, especially when I switched to medium tyres…The team works really well, it's there a good atmosphere. It's good to see that the changes made to the car also make improvements. We still have a lot of work to do in many races. But I think we can continue to improve and have some fun weekends like this."

A more saddened Zhou, who started from the pit lane after his car had its gearbox changed before the start, said:

"It wasn't the result I wanted. But I can still take a lot of positives from this weekend." Not only was my performance good, as I demonstrated over the three days…It's always difficult to get into the top 10 results after starting from the pit lane. Furthermore, it was quite difficult to overtake… When I finally overtook the Williams, the gap to the cars in front of them was already too big. So the rest of my race was quite uneventful. I will think about the things I learned in these difficult conditions, to do better in the next races."

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal said:

"It was a positive weekend for the team, which was rewarded with a total of twelve points in the championship. We made technical updates to the cars, which worked well... The race Sunday was positive for us. Valtteri put in a really strong performance and even fought for fourth place until the finish. Zhou had a difficult task ahead of him after retiring on Saturday and starting from the pit lane on Sunday. But he did well and in the end he finished 15th thanks to some good overtaking maneuvers…”

For the C42 and Bottas, the positive period also continued in the subsequent Grand Prix races in Miami, Spain and Monaco, where he obtained 7th, 6th and 9th place. While Zhou was forced to two retirements and a hard-earned 16th place in Monaco. The Monaco race took place in difficult conditions due to rain and slippery road surfaces.

Frédéric Vasseur said:

"The conditions during the race were very difficult. Bringing both cars home is always the team's primary objective. Once again we succeeded. We knew we had to have a good race to score championship points after qualifying was not the ideal… These points are a good result for the weekend.".

Bottas declared:

"It was a rather long race in which we took our chances as a team. It wasn't easy and I'm happy I didn't make any mistakes. It's never easy to gain positions in Monaco. I finished in the points starting from twelfth position on the grid, it wasn't a bad day for me… We took some manageable risks and it was worth it."

Zhou said:

"A difficult Sunday. But I think I achieved my best. The first part of the race was to defend my position on a wet track. I had to continue on a dry track with wet tires to make my strategy work. And It was a great experience racing in Monaco in these conditions. My only moment of shock was when I lost control of my car for a fraction of a second in a duel with Tsunoda. But I managed to save the situation and regain the lead. Overall, the Monaco race was difficult. I didn't make any mistakes and I was able to keep the pace of the cars in the middle of the pack “

In the Canadian Grand Prix on June 20th, the C42 scored points with both drivers; Bottas took 7th place ahead of Zhou.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal

"We achieved an excellent result as a team and we can be very satisfied with our performances. Valtteri and Zhou drove good races, both scoring points in the championship. It's a nice reward after some weekends that didn't they went so well... Valtteri was able to make the most of the safety period car. Zhou fought his way into the points with an excellent performance… the team result and gives us a lot of confidence for our further fight for a mid-point position in the team standings ."

Valtteri Bottas, who also set the fastest lap in the race, said:

"...It's always good for a team to score points in the championship with both cars, especially after a couple of difficult races...My race was quite simple: I started on hard tyres, everything went perfectly for me from the start. The safety period car came at an ideal time for me, so I was lucky… ".

Zhou Guanyu stated:

"It was a pretty good weekend for me and the team. I'm really happy with my eighth place; my best result in Formula 1 so far. I improved constantly throughout the weekend. In the race I did everything right on the track and also with the strategy. Even though I was stuck behind Stroll for a while, I got everything out of my car and used it to its full potential... Of course, I don't have much experience with the Montreal circuit. But I already did a good job in qualifying in difficult race conditions. I had good pace... Now I can't wait to build on this performance in the next races”.

It should be underlined that the good results were also obtained thanks to the updating of the car starting from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix which included a new design of the edge of the car bottom and the strake, as well as new lateral supports that merged with the bottom of the car, and also changes to the rear brake ducts.

Time, as always, passed quickly and, on November 20th, the championship reached its last race.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN and the C42 reached the promised land by taking 6th place in the constructors' championship. A successful season ended with a pointless race.

The team then finished the championship with 55 points, which determined the team's best ranking in a decade.

A result that demonstrated the commitment of everyone in the company, on the track and in Hinwil , as demonstrated by the festive scenes in front of the team garage.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal declared:

"This evening is the culmination of an incredible job by all team members, both on the track and in Hinwil. Finishing in P6 in the championship exceeds our expectations and the objectives we set ourselves all year round. start of the season, so we can say that this season was a success… ”:

Valtteri Bottas said:

"I'm really happy for the team, it's an important result and you can see what it means for each of us. It was a close fight for sixth place in the championship, but we did it and I'm proud of everyone tonight... . Spirit in the team is excellent, we can be proud of our work and this will help us continue our progression next year.

Zhou Guanyu said: 

"I am so proud of this team, not only for tonight but for the whole season. We gave everything in the race and, although we didn't score points, we achieved our goal, which was to finish P6 in the championship… It was a fantastic rookie season, we started off strong and it's nice to see that we finished on a high note too. Sure, it didn't always go the way we hoped, we had quite a few reliability issues, but I'm confident we'll figure it all out. over the winter and we will have a better season next year. Overall, I really enjoyed my first F1 season, with all the support from my team, my teammate Valtteri and all the fans for all of this and can't wait for the next one".

Over the course of the season, the C42 suffered reliability issues, both in testing and racing, with Bottas retiring in Saudi Arabia whilst in the points, as well as Zhou retiring with mechanical problems in Miami, Spain and Baku. Even when the car did not retire from racing, the team was often forced to miss parts of free practice due to reliability issues, which often put the team in difficulty in terms of preparation for qualifying or the race.

After the Canadian Grand Prix, the car suffered a clear loss of competitiveness compared to the group and, after Canada, it only scored points in Monza, with Zhou, and in Mexico and Brazil, with Bottas. This allowed Aston Martin to make up ground and finish the championship with the same number of points as Alfa Romeo in the constructors' championship, but Bottas ' 5th place in Imola allowed the team to take 6th place ahead of Aston Martin.

For lovers of statistics, we point out that the most used chassis in the race was the '01' which was used by Bottas in 15 Grand Prix contests. The least used was '02', which took part in 7 Grand Prix races with Zhou. While chassis '03' took part in 13 Grand Prix events (9 with Zhou and 4 with Bottas ) and chassis '04' took part in 8 Grand Prix races  (5 with Zhou and 3 with Bottas ).

Considerations on the season

The 2022 season experienced 'the greatest regulatory revolution of the last 40 years', as said Adrian Newey, a gentleman who, given his experience, certainly could not be contested. Newey is an engineer who has lived through every regulatory change since the early 1980s. Designer of winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, whose designs have led to victories in over 200 Grand Prix, 13 Drivers' Championships and 12 Constructors' Championships.

Technically, the regulations affected aerodynamics, the shape of the car body, the increase in weight and decreed the freezing of engine development until 2025.

The season featured several significant storylines, including the return of Kevin Magnussen as second driver Haas, the retirement at the end of the season of Sebastian Vettel and the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive year due to the Covid pandemic .

Also of note is that the Haas team removed the Russian flag colors and sponsorship branding of the Russian petrochemical giant Uralkali, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

From a competitive point of view, the season was characterized by two very distinct phases: the start of the championship with an exhilarating show of strength by Ferrari and Leclerc, and a subsequent comeback by Max Verstappen and his Red Bull.

Ferrari returned to making its fans dream with 4 victories and 12 pole positions; after an exhilarating start to the season the team was the victim of a series of strategic errors which forced the Ferrari manufacturer to struggle to defend second place in the Constructors' World Championship. For this reason, at the end of the championship, the team principal Binotto resigned. On 13 December, Ferrari announced that it had appointed Frédéric Vasseur as team principal.

Verstappen proved to be the best driver of the season, winning 15 of the 22 scheduled races, demonstrating great consistency in results thanks to an aggressive driving style and the ability to manage various race situations. Qualities that allowed him to win the world title. The Dutch driver achieved a total of 454 points, surpassing Lewis Hamilton's previous record set in 2019. It should be noted that the second-placed driver, Leclerc, finished the championship with 308 points, with an abysmal gap of 146 points.

Verstappen mathematically won the title in the Japanese Grand Prix with 4 Grand Prix still to go, in a race characterized by bad weather, and a flooded track that forced the race direction to interrupt the competition with the red flag. Track conditions delayed the start of the race from 2pm to 5.45pm. The Grand Prix was therefore held with a reduced number of laps, while maintaining the normal points system.

However, the F1 World Championship was not yet over and Verstappen won again both in the USA and in Mexico, becoming the first driver in the history of F1 to achieve 14 victories in a single season. In the last race of the year, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , Verstappen managed to add one last victory to his impressive racing season.

Verstappen's victory in the Drivers' World Championship was combined with Red Bull's 5th victory in the Constructors' World Championship, which was added to those obtained consecutively from 2010 to 2013. Red Bull scored 759 points, ahead of Ferrari which stopped at 554.

It should be noted that on October 26th 2022, the FIA announced a fine of 7 million euros to Red Bull for violating the financial regulations of Formula 1 during the 2021 season. In addition to the financial fine, the FIA imposed a 10% reduction in the limited time development in the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics for the 2023 season.

For many in the media, the worst driver was considered Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren, who experienced a difficult season managing to score 37 points, 85 points less than teammate Lando Norris. His performances did not live up to expectations, so much so that McLaren canceled his contract at the end of the season.

As regards our beloved Alfa Romeo, we must point out that it was, all things considered, a positive season. The C42 demonstrated, at least in the first part of the season, to have good performance consistency, highlighting strengths in its handling and effective tire management. The car's weaknesses became evident in the second half of the season, with difficulty competing with the top teams in terms of pure speed. The lack of engine power and poor aerodynamics limited performance in qualifying and the race. However, Alfa Romeo achieved a good result, a result that made the fans enthusiastic and proud.

Over the course of the season , Bottas and Zhou both suffered 5 retirements. Bottas scored points on 7 occasions, achieving his best result, 5th place, in the Emilia Romagna  Grand Prix Zhou managed to score points on two occasions, and achieved the fastest race lap at the Japanese Grand Prix.  Bottas achieved a better result than Zhou on 11 occasions, while he had worse results on 7 occasions.

The context

The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship took place, as always, in a context of great sporting competition, but also in a world facing particularly marked political, economic, social and health challenges. Teams and drivers competed in a global arena, in which important national and international interests coexist at stake.

Additionally, the global economy, with its fluctuations and challenges related to the pandemic, continued to impact team financial resources and sponsorship.

From a sporting point of view, the 2023 championship saw the introduction of a new regulatory change, aimed at leveling the performances of the teams to offer more competitive and spectacular races involving a greater number of spectators and increasing the safety of the single-seaters.

The new aerodynamic rules have introduced more restrictive measures for the bottom of the car, aimed at eliminating the annoying and dangerous undulating movement known as "porpoising".

The front wing has undergone modifications, with rigorous constraints to ensure greater stability. Larger and stronger roll cages have been introduced, tested to withstand the most violent impacts. Again, for safety reasons, larger mirrors have been added. At the same time, Pirelli has introduced a sixth slick compound and made available tires characterized by a new structure to improve grip and reduce understeer.

Ten teams participated in the championship, competing in 22 races. As in the previous season, the championship began with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on March 5^th  and concluded with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 26^th .

Max Verstappen won the drivers' title for the third time in a row with Red Bull Racing, equaling the number of titles of some great names in motorsport such as Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. Furthermore, Verstappen set a new record for points scored in a season (575). Austrian team Red Bull Racing won the constructors' title for the sixth time in its history, becoming the first constructor to do so with six races remaining in the championship.

The Alfa Romeo F1 Team C43

“Slim, mean and absolutely gorgeous” are the words written on the press kit distributed on the occasion of the launch of the new weapon with which the Alfa Romeo F1 Team was preparing to face the challenges of the new championship. The event, held jointly in Zurich and at the team's headquarters in Hinwil, Switzerland aimed to underline that F1 already had a prime contender for the title of best-looking car on the grid, the C43.

Unveiled in a virtual presentation with images and videos distributed to the media and enthusiasts around the world, it appeared in a surprising red and black livery. Designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Centre…the C43 was embellished with the Quadrifoglio and the Alfa Romeo logo, symbols of Italian sportsmanship since 1910.

Designed under the guidance of Technical Director Jan Monchaux, the C43 was the first 2023 version of the F1 to be presented.  Powered by a new Ferrari engine, the new car was an evolution of the C42, updated according to the new rules introduced by the FIA.  It therefore incorporated several updates and completely new parts and was ready to hit the track in a shakedown session, scheduled for Barcelona, and for winter testing in Bahrain, later this month.

Like the previous single-seaters, the C43 used a monocoque chassis made of a honeycomb composite material with carbon fibre. The new and more powerful Ferrari type 066/10 EVO V6 90° engine had a displacement of 1.6 liters (80 x 53 mm) and was centrally mounted. The V6 from Modena was supercharged with a turbocharger and supported by a 120-kW electric motor, combined with the MGU-K and MGU-H energy recovery systems.

The transmission was entrusted to a Ferrari 8-speed sequential gearbox + reverse, with steering wheel controls, supported by a multi-disc dry clutch and a self-locking differential. The C43 featured a new design of the bellies and radiator vents, which took up the shapes of those mounted on the Ferrari F1-75.

In the upper part, the bellies had a sloping shape which forced the designer to adopt a new arrangement of the radiators. The roll cage appeared more robust due to toughened crash testing and regulation changes following Zhou's crash in the 2022 British Grand Prix. The redesigned airscope featured a 4-vent configuration. The braking system consisted of 4-disc brakes bitten by Brembo calipers. The suspensions used a push-rod type system on both the front and rear.  Finally, the car sat on 18" BBS rims wearing Pirelli racing tires.

During the presentation, Cristiano Fiorio, Alfa Romeo F1 Manager, stated:

“The presentation of a car is always an exciting moment. It represents a turning point... we are ready to warm up the engines. With this car we will fight, together with our drivers, until the last corner of the last Grand Prix to achieve ambitious goals...".

Jan Monchaux, Technical Director of the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake, said:

"I am very proud of what we have achieved in these last months, because creating a new car is always a huge effort on the part of the team. This car is an evolution from last year, reflects the new regulations and introduces important changes in the areas where we found the need for improvement. I hope it is faster than the successful car we had last year, that is what matters most, and then some reliable…".

Valtteri Bottas declared:

“The C43 is finally here and I can’t wait to take it to the track. I really like our new livery, I think it’s stunning and a nice evolution from last year. It was a first season interesting with the team, in which we have made some pretty solid progress together... I can’t wait to get back to racing, I’m pumped up and can’t wait to start the new season.”

Zhou Guanyu said:

“I’m happy to finally see the C43 revealed after all the behind-the-scenes work that has been done over the last few months… last year the team made me feel at home right from the start, welcoming me and giving me time to learn and improve. The expectations for this year are decidedly higher and I will bring all the experience of my rookie season into 2023…”.

Théo Pourchaire, reserve driver for the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake said:

"First of all, I am grateful and honored to take part in my first launch in Formula 1 as a reserve driver for the team. It's nice to see the efforts pay off and I can't wait to get started... there's great anticipation and I can't wait to see the C43 hit the track in a few days do my best and push the limits to achieve the best possible results."

The first tests

On Friday, February 10^th , on the Barcelona track, the C43 made its shakedown, the first shakedown of the season. Alfa Romeo, after Tuesday's presentation, was revealed in its real form via a video on Twitter (now X). It was then discovered that the car presented a few days earlier was not in its final version, and that its lines had only served to confuse opponents. During the presentation, the attention of the experts fell on the new bottom which appeared to be a revolutionary choice compared to the shapes adopted in the past season. But from the first exit from the pits, Bottas' car appeared to lack the revolutionary depth shown during the presentation. furthermore, the car showed some significant changes, particularly at the rear.

Bottas took his first laps behind the wheel of the car during the morning, while his teammate Zhou used the car in the afternoon.

The C43 concluded its first day of testing without facing any notable problems. The following day the car returned to the track with both drivers and the 3rd driver Pourchaire who took the wheel for a day dedicated to filming.

At the end of the first two days of testing, technical director Jan Monchaux said:

“The debut of the C43 is a crucial moment in our season… Today it was important to check that everything was in order, not only at the level of the car but also of the entire team, ahead of what will be a crucial start to the championship... We are ready for testing and can't wait to get to work in Bahrain."

Alunni Bravi, CEO of the Sauber Group and Representative of the Alfa Romeo F1 Team, added:

We know the challenges that await us, but we are confident, by working hard, we will be successful and take another step forward.”

After completing the shakedown in Barcelona, Alfa Romeo moved to Bahrain for pre-season testing from the 23^rd to the 25^th of February, tests which would serve in preparation for the season-opening Grand Prix at the Sakhir venue on March 5^th.

During the tests, the Alfa Romeo C43 achieved good performance. In particular, on the second day with Zhou, he set a shocking time, stopping the clock at 1'31".610s, a time that allowed him to overtake Max Verstappen by just 0.040s. At the end of the three days of testing, Perez, driving the Red Bull RB19 / Honda RBPT H001, set the best time, Lewis Hamilton, with the Mercedes F1 W14 E Performance, 2nd and Valtteri Bottas with the C43 achieved 3rd time.

For the more curious, we would like to point out that the most active team during the three days of testing was Alpha Tauri which completed 456 laps of the track equal to 2467 km, while the least active was McLaren with 312 laps equal to 1868 km. The Alfa Romeo C43 completed 402 laps equal to 2175 km, of which 1093 km with Bottas and 1082 km with Zhou. The most active was Fernando Alonso, and the ‘laziest’ was Felipe Drugovich, reserve driver for the Aston Martin team, who covered 'only' 633 km.

The 2023 season

The championship kicked off with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5^th, where the C43 showed a livery embellished with a celebratory Autodelta logo. Created by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, the logo reinterpreted the historical canons in a modern key, projecting them into the future of the brand.  Furthermore, the logo intended to honor the 60^th year of collaboration between Autodelta and Alfa Romeo, which began on March 5, 1963, and aimed to reinvent sportsmanship in the twenty-first century.

Autodelta was a milestone in the sporting history of the brand, being the official racing department of Alfa Romeo and wrote memorable pages in motorsport with unforgettable cars, memorable victories and fantastic drivers.

For the occasion, Cristiano Fiorio, Alfa Romeo F1 Manager, said:

“The first race of the championship always has a particular flavour, all the teams start from a blank sheet of paper, and the gripping story of the championship is yet to be written. For Alfa Romeo, symbolically bringing Autodelta to the track represents a strong celebratory tribute to an extraordinary chapter of Alfa Romeo motorsport. The concentration is maximum, from the switching on of the traffic lights in Bahrain to the last corner of the last Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo will give 100% to achieve the ambitious objectives of the season."

During testing for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the C43 allowed its drivers to obtain 12^th and 13^th place, failing to fully demonstrate its potential. Nonetheless, the car demonstrated good race pace, giving the team hope that they could recover positions in the race and reach the Top Ten with both cars.

At the end of the tests, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative, told the press:

“Today's result is a good first step on which we can build to score points tomorrow. We can be happy with how our team approached today's qualifying: both drivers did well and the whole team, both here and in Hinwil, was up to the task...I am confident that tomorrow we can put in a good performance and achieve a good result for the team."

Bottas said: “It was an easy qualifying for us. We will definitely aim for a place in the points. From what we saw in the tests, we are not bad in race setup. It will be interesting to see how tire degradation will affect the different cars: it is difficult to predict how the race will develop, but we will do our best."

Zhou said:

“I feel we have the potential to gain some positions during tomorrow's race. We are in the running for the top ten; today we came very close, but in the end we fell short. However, there is everything to play for tomorrow and I am confident that we can do a good job."

The race did not bring any major shocks compared to the previous season and featured the Dutchman Max Verstappen on Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, who won his 36th career victory. Verstappen took command of the race from the start and finished ahead of his teammate, the Mexican Sergio Pérez, and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes.  Bottas and Zhou did their best, finishing in 8^th  and 16^th position. It should be noted that Zhou, for the second time in his career, managed to obtain the best lap of the race, as in the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

The Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake scored 4 points, concluding a good team performance.

The result took the team to 5^th place in the Constructors' Championship, considered a solid return from the first race of the year and a reward for the good progress made by the team over the winter.

At the end of the race, Alunni Bravi, Team Representative, declared:

"The team did a really good job tonight and we can be satisfied with the final result… we were among the top five teams throughout the race and finished ahead of McLaren and Alpine, which is the best we could have hoped to achieve tonight… This result is in line with what we expected after last week's testing and the data we obtained in practice… we must continue to push to develop our car, because the battle that we are living in this season will be exciting."

Bottas said:

“I'm very happy with our race tonight: four points are a good reward for the team and show that all the work done by everyone over the winter is paying off… the start was really important… the eighth place was the best we could get tonight and there's nothing more we could have done."

Zhou stated: 

“Obviously it's great to see Valtteri score points for the team in the opening race of the season, it's a good starting point for all of us and I was happy to contribute by setting the fastest lap in the closing stages...For as for tonight's race, I suffered a bit of wheel spin on the first lap, sorry endowing some positions… there are positive aspects that we can take from this race and we go to Saudi Arabia with the knowledge that we can fight for points in every race.”

In the following races, the C43 did not achieve the desired improvements and the results were disappointing. In the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, both cars finished the race outside the points. At the Australian Grand Prix Zhou took 9^th  place, while Bottas finished 11^th

In Azerbaijan, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake experienced a difficult weekend in Baku. In the Sprint event the team did not score any points, and in Sunday's race, Bottas achieved 18^th place, while Zhou was forced to retire due to technical problems.

The result was so disheartening that Bravi, Team Representative, was forced to admit:

"It was a disappointing race and it showed that, at this moment, our technical package is not competitive enough to score points. The priority for each of us in the team is to work hard and make the improvements necessary to get back to where we expect to be...".

A disheartened Bottas said:

"It wasn't a great race for us and we were never in the fight for the points: we need to understand what happened and, above all, how to get back to being competitive."

Zhou added:

A weekend to forget for us: it's never good to retire, but realistically today we didn't have a chance to score. We had to retire the car as a precaution because we had rising temperatures and alarms on the dashboard. Overall , it was a difficult weekend for all of us...".

The last non-European race in Miami was also negative where the C43, despite a slight improvement in qualifying, did not go beyond 13^th and 16^th place.

The team then returned to Europe, where they intended to use a couple of weeks of testing to try out the updates that would be introduced for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.

The Grand Prix, scheduled as the 6^th round of the season, should have been held on May 21^st at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari racetrack in Imola, Italy. It was canceled due to the exceptional wave of bad weather which hit Emilia-Romagna before the race weekend, causing floods in various cities. The president of the FIA and the competent sporting and political authorities decided not to proceed with the Grand Prix. The decision was made because it was not possible to organize the event safely and so as not to cause further pressure on local authorities and emergency services who were already facing a difficult time.

It was the first Grand Prix to be canceled after the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, which was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back on track for the Monaco Grand Prix, the C43s, now equipped with the new aerodynamic package, demonstrated that they were not at ease in the Monegasque taboga and achieved the 15^th and 19^th times with Bottas and Zhou. On Sunday, in a Grand Prix heavily affected by a downpour that hit the principality immediately after the halfway point of the race, the drivers gave their all but, despite their efforts, they failed to enter the points zone: Bottas finished 11^th  and Zhou 13^th , despite the C43s managing to recover ten places in the general classification.

At the end of the race Bottas said:

"We had a solid race and probably got the most out of the day... it's just a shame we weren't able to get points from our efforts...".

Zhou added:

“We had a good race in very difficult conditions and, considering where we started from, we can be satisfied with the progress we managed to make… The most important thing is that our race pace was good and a good indication for move forward on different tracks and other conditions.”

The rest of the championship was just a continuous disappointment, with the ability to score points in only three races: in the Canadian, Italian and Qatar Grand Prixs.

On June 18^th  in Montreal, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake took an important point from the Canadian Grand Prix, with Bottas recovering four positions to finish in the top ten.  Zhou faced a more difficult race, starting from the back of the field.

On September 3^rd in Monza, Bottas achieved 10^th  place in an exciting Italian Grand Prix. The result was also obtained thanks to the strategy of starting on hard tyres; Valtteri and the team made a flawless run to make up ground in the second half of the race and entered the top ten. Zhou had a more challenging race, finishing 14^th  in a performance that boasted some good overtaking.

Finally, on October 8^th in Lusail at the Qatar Grand Prix, Bottas and Zhou took 8^th  and 9th place respectively. With this result, little satisfaction, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team overtook Haas for 8th place.

In the rest of the championship, Alfa Romeo dragged itself towards the end and, on November 23^rd, issued a press release announcing its withdrawal from F1 competitions.

On 26th November in Abu Dhabi, the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake concluded the 2023 season under the floodlights of Yas Marina, but there was no miracle to be able to leave the season with glory: Zhou and Valtteri finished in 17^th  and 19^th  place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The result confirmed the final Constructors' classification, with the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake in 9^th and penultimate place in the standings.

The race also marked the final chapter of the Sauber partnership with Alfa Romeo.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative, said:

“The most important thing to say today, after such a long and difficult season, is to thank Alfa Romeo for six successful seasons together. Of course, we did not achieve all the goals we set ourselves, but today we want to pay tribute to a partner who was instrumental in the growth of our team, who joined us in 2017 when few would have had faith in our future. Now, if we are able to look to the future with confidence and with solid foundations, it is also thanks to Alfa Romeo and the people within their company who helped us as a team... Tonight's race fully reflected our season: in the end, the position in the constructors' championship corresponds to the pace we were able to show. We have to keep our heads down, knowing that we have to work hard and use the lessons we have learned to improve... we salute our fans, we want to let them know that we will work very hard to come back stronger."

Considerations on the season

As George Russell, Mercedes driver, had predicted, the 2023 season saw a clear superiority of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Russell had also predicted that Red Bull would win all the races.  This prophecy did not come true by a long shot, Red Bull still dominated, winning 21 Grand Prixs: 20 victories with Verstappen, one with teammate Sergio Perez in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while one, in Singapore, was won by Carlos Sainz's Ferrari.

Verstappen proved to be the best driver of the season, winning 20 of the 22 scheduled races, demonstrating great consistency in results thanks to an aggressive driving style and the ability to manage various race situations. The Dutch driver obtained a total of 575 points, while the second classified, Perez, concluded the championship with 285 points, with an abysmal gap of 290 points. Third in the standings, Hamilton, scored 240 points.

The constructors' classification saw the victory of Red Bull, which has totaled 860 points, ahead of Mercedes with 409 points and Ferrari with 406 points.  If Red Bull was considered the best car in the race, the ranking of the worst cars goes to Williams-Mercedes, AlphaTauri Honda RBPT, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari and Haas-Ferrari, cars which suffered from performance and reliability problems, making life difficult for their pilots.

The comparison between Red Bull and Alfa Romeo is merciless: if the former won the championship with 860 points, the latter 'conquered' the penultimate place in the standings with 16 points.

For the media, the best Grand Prix of 2023 was the Qatar Grand Prix, which received praise for its impeccable organization, electrifying atmosphere and exciting on-track battles.

For lovers of statistics, we would like to remind you that during the championship the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake fielded four different C43s. The 01 competed on 12 occasions with Zhou. The 02 was used on 19 occasions by Bottas. The 03 took part in 7 races, three with Bottas and four with Zhou. 04 competed with Zhou on 5 occasions.

Both drivers suffered three retirements, while Bottas achieved a better result than his teammate on 12 occasions, finishing in the points on 4 occasions (three times 8^th  and once 10^th). Zhou finished ahead of Bottas on 10 occasions, achieving a best result of 9th place on three occasions.

Considerations on the Alfa Romeo adventure

The Swiss team, which will return to being called Sauber starting from 2024, concluded a very difficult season, especially when compared to the previous one, in which it obtained an excellent sixth place in the constructors' championship.

In 2023, Alfa Romeo faced numerous challenges that reduced the competitiveness of its cars. One of the factors that prevented the team from maintaining the level of competitiveness shown in the previous season can be attributed to the restrictions imposed by the budget cap, which prevented significant updates to the car, to which were added the problems due to the poor reliability of the Ferrari Power Unit.

One of the few positive moments of the season was the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Bottas achieved an 8^th place, which he then repeated in the Qatar Grand Prix. However, these results were a real exception. In many other races, such as the Mexican Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix, the team struggled with technical and performance problems, failing to score points.

The comparison with 2022 is indicative: last year, Alfa Romeo scored points in 9 different races, with a total of 13 placings in the top 10.  In 2023, the single-seaters of the Hinwil team finished in the points only on 6 occasions, for a total of 7 placings.

Even the comparison in qualifying is merciless; performance was lower than the previous year, with fewer entries in Q3 and Q2.

Furthermore, internal changes and team restructuring have taken energy and resources away from improving on-track performance. In summary, the 2023 season was disappointing for Alfa Romeo, which finished in penultimate place in the constructors' standings, ahead only of Haas.

The reactions of fans

As usually happens, the reactions of the younger fans were different from those of the older ones.  In general, while young people tend to be more optimistic and future-oriented, boomers are more critical and nostalgic, remembering better times and critically addressing the failure to return to competitiveness.

More specifically, young enthusiasts, often closer to the Sauber name than Alfa Romeo, are more active on social media. They expressed disappointment but also hope for the future, especially with Audi's arrival in 2026. They showed support for the drivers, acknowledging the technical and budgetary difficulties the team faced.

The older people, or "boomers", who often experienced the 'great' Alfa Romeo, with the victories on the track of the various Giulia, Giulietta and GTA, the world championships in the Sports Prototype category, the return to F1 in the 70s, and who experienced the passion for those promotional championships, such as the Alfa Sud Trophy, and the subsequent trophies with the Alfa Boxer single-seaters, had much more critical reactions.

Many of them compared the 2023 season to the past, expressing disappointment with the drop in performance. They harshly criticized the management of the team and the poor reliability of the Ferrari Power Unit, highlighting how these problems compromised the races. Very few acknowledged the structural and financial challenges the team faced, showing a deeper understanding of the difficulties.

After all, those who lived through the Golden Age of Alfa Romeo cannot digest a total defeat and are not very inclined towards the new economic-financial policies of a team which, beyond the official declarations, bases the races only as a form of advertising, and candidly states that the increase in sales is due to the positive results in the competition.

Part of the criticism is based on the fact that this adventure was based on imagery: a Sauber chassis, a Ferrari engine, etc.  That is where the real Alfa Romeo was.

We therefore ask ourselves the sporting meaning of the name Alfa Romeo; the withdrawal from competitions was therefore considered as the inability to react and the lack of 'true passion' for which the return to F1 was undertaken.

Roberto Motta