Formula 1 Preseason Report #5 – Alfa Romeo

The new affiliation with Audi will likely pay some big dividends, but likely not until 2026 -- but patience is on their side

While the start of the Formula One season is still roughly a month away, we’re already in preseason mode here at AutoRacingDigest.com.

Over the next four weeks leading up to the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix (March 3-5), our exceptional F1 expert, Gregg Fielding, will break down each of the 10 teams that will take part in the global chase for the championship.

Here’s the teams we’ve covered thus far:

* Williams Racing

* AlphaTauri

* Haas F1 Team

* Aston Martin

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Welcome to the lame-duck era of Alfa Romeo.

If you scratch below the skin of the cars flying the Alfa Romeo colors, you’ll find the same Sauber unit that joined Formula 1 in 1993, but that has maintained occupancy at the back of the field since the departure of its former partner, BMW, following the 2010 season. It’s now been over a decade since the team last had a podium finish, and hasn’t had a win since, well, ever.

But a new era is starting for the organization - it’s just going to take a little while to get here. In October Audi announced it would make its first entry into Formula 1 in partnership with the Swiss team, becoming a full participant (unlike Alfa Romeo, which only supplied sponsorship and some non-technical assistance). The new Audi F1 will be a factory team, including creating their own engine, and fully intends to commit the resources to be a serious competitor.

But that’s in the future.

While Audi has already taken a minority ownership interest in the team, the real involvement will first be seen in the 2026 season, when the next major change in regulations occurs. And from that point they believe it will take at least three more years of development before they’re ready to make a serious impact on the standings.

Which leaves Sauber (which will discard the Alfa Romeo name following 2023) in a three-year state of limbo. The team’s sixth-place finish last year was its best since the BMW era, but was more about consistency and new driver Valtteri Bottas than any great leap forward in car performance.

Bottas was signed to replace fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen, who retired after 2021, following a five-year stint at Mercedes where he was never given the chance to be more than a supporting cast in the Lewis Hamilton show.

Bottas’ performance last year mirrored his first year for the team, when he scored 43 points in 2019 while being paired with rookie Antonio Giovinazzi. Bottas was able to best that with 49 points, as Giovinazzi was replaced by a new rookie, Zhou Guanyu, who had previously finished third in the Formula 2 series.

Räikkönen was 40 years old that year, and his results tapered off in the following three seasons. Bottas will only be 33 when this campaign starts in March, and the argument can be made that he’s one of the strongest drivers on the grid.

Zhou’s year ended up having a decent finish as well (outside the scariest crash in F1 since Romain Grosjean’s escape from a fireball), and while his final total only read six points, he was able to finish 13th or better in 10 of the 17 races in which his car was still running at the checkered flag.

This past December, Frédéric Vasseur, who had been at the helm of the team since 2017, was poached by Ferrari to take over their operation following the resignation of Mattia Binotto. This created a bit of an issue with the team, as the soon-to-depart Alfa Romeo organization had a contractual right to sign-off on a new team principal.

To get around this obligation, the team decided to eliminate the team principal position entirely, and instead go with something of a committee system. Andreas Seidl agreed to leave McLaren to assume the role of “CEO of the Sauber Group”, and likely will oversee on-track operations.

Meanwhile, Alunni Bravi, the former lawyer, journalist and driver manager who had previously held the title of Managing Director with the team, was promoted to the new role of “Team Representative”, where he will have more of a role in managing behind the scenes. Seidl and Bravi are also expected to have a significant portion of their focus on guiding the team through its three-year transition period in preparation for the Audi takeover, and Bravi in particular may be an infrequent sight at this year’s events.

Behind the wheel, Zhou was given a second one-year contract to return next to Bottas, while the team’s Technical Director, Jan Monchaux has made some major changes to the rear of the car hoping for improved performance while also focusing on reliability.

The car that was exhibited during the team’s launch event showed an unusual jagged design to the side edge of the floor, but it had reverted to normal when the team showed film of them shaking down the car on-track last week, so we’ll have to wait to see if there is any actual innovation there.

The team has also added a new major sponsor in Curaçao-based gambling and sports betting company Stake, although that has already caused them some issues in their home country, as Switzerland (where they held their launch event) is one of several countries involved in the sport that does not allow promotion of gambling.

2022 Results

* Team finish: 6th place in constructor standings (via tie-break), 55 points scored, 104points behind fifth.

* Driver Results:

* Valtteri Bottas: 10th place in driver standings, 49 points scored, best finish – fifth (Imola)

* Zhou Guanyu: 18th place in driver standings, 6 points scored, best finish – eighth (Canada)

Predictions for 2023:

For the parts of the organization focused on competition – the drivers and the car builders – there still will be a full effort on trying to improve on or at least maintain the relatively decent finish of last year. But for management, including the two men sharing the duties of being in charge, it’s all about Audi and 2026.

Even before the shift this was a team that had limited potential to be competitive. It does not bode well for any immediate change in the team’s perceived position as a fixture in the back half of the field. Bottas will continue to bring in the best results his car will allow, and the team will monitor the progress of Zhou to decide if he’ll be a part of the hopefully different future.

The team has a snazzy new livery to go with its new sponsorship, but it likely will not have a great amount of TV exposure this year, as I see the team fending off Williams to bring home a ninth-place finish in the final standings.