F1 News: Alfa Romeo Plans Racing Return After Stepping Away From Formula 1

The announcement comes after parting ways with the Sauber F1 team.

Alfa Romeo says that it is currently shifting focus to the World Endurance Championship (WEC) as a step away from Formula 1, as its title sponsor contract with the Sauber F1 team ended at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a successful six-year partnership. 

Although there were rumors of a potential collaboration between Alfa Romeo and Haas, discussions with the American-owned team reportedly did occur but failed to progress significantly.

Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato clarified that, with the firm's commitment to stay in motorsport, a shift to the WEC is currently the most probable course of action.

When asked about the talks with Haas, Imparato told Motorsport.com:

“We weren't interested in aiming to do a copy/paste operation in the style of the one done with Sauber. 

“It would have led us to become one of those who puts stickers on bodywork. It would no longer have been new and we wouldn't have been part of a story.

“We started looking at something else, quickly reaching a conclusion. Alfa Romeo has nothing to do with the world of rallying, the Stellantis group already has two brands involved in Formula E, and so the focus has shifted to the WEC, a world in which Alfa Romeo has lived in the past wonderful experiences." 

The CEO added that Alfa Romeo is currently evaluating the most cost-effective way of entering WEC. He said:

“The WEC world is experiencing a moment of great interest, and when there is a lot of euphoria it becomes difficult to understand what level of investment is necessary to aim for the highest goals.

“We saw in 2015 [in LMP1] that uncontrolled cost escalation ultimately rebounds, so we took some time to understand how this will all play out.

“I believe it is correct to have a clear picture and know precisely what you are facing before launching into a project." 

One way of entering the sport is by partnering with Peugeot, which is a part of the same Stellantis group. He added:

“Obviously it's one of the scenarios we evaluated.

“There are already houses within the Stellantis group whose sports programmes are in close contact, for example DS and Maserati in Formula E.

“When we return to the track we will do so with the support of Stellantis' motorsport projects, and as Peugeot is already present in the WEC obviously co-operation is more than possible. Then perhaps the two projects may have parallel paths in other aspects, but in the end we are in the same family.

“However, I would like to clarify that at the moment we are not yet able to confirm anything. We will do so when we have completed the planning and evaluation of the investment." 

Despite the premature conclusion of Alfa Romeo's F1 sponsorship with Sauber due to Audi's takeover of the team, Imparato expressed no regrets about their extensive collaboration, as the return on investment during their many years together was remarkable. He concluded:

“I would say [it was] the best investment in history.

“We can say that in terms of image return, for every euro we spent we received 20 back. 

“At the same time, we are a little sad because we are leaving a team that has embraced our brand for six years, and with which we have had an extraordinary relationship."