Alfa Romeo Return To Formula 1 With Sauber

The Sauber F1 team languished during the 2017 Formula season as they struggled to find funding and pace from their 2016 spec Ferrari engines. Throughout the tail end of their lackluster 2017 campaign, reports swirled around the F1 paddock and community that a big deal was imminent with Ferrari having agreed to supply the team with current specification power units for the 2018 season. Amid these rumors were speculations regarding Sauber’s driver lineup, with many fans hoping to see young Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc on the F1 grid for Melbourne 2018.

On November 29, 2017 the Sauber F1 team officially announced a technical and commercial partnership with Alfa Romeo. The announcement marks the return of Alfa Romeo to Formula 1 following more than three decades of absence from the sport. With this partnership likely came the decision for Sauber’s official 2018 driver lineup of Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson. In addition to bolstering Sauber’s roster with the addition of Leclerc, the Alfa Romeo partnership also sees Sauber with a engineering link to the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team that could, in theory, place the team in a situation similar to the relationship that Red Bull and Toro Rosso have enjoyed in recent years. Such a relationship could help Sauber climb from the bottom of the Constructor’s Championship, to once again competing with the likes of midfield teams such as Haas, Toro Rosso, Renault, and Williams.

Going forward it will be important to remember that while the now Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team will doubtlessly see improvement from last season, Formula 1 develops at such a rapid pace that it will be difficult to make ground on the other midfield teams on the grid. The partnership’s relative success will also hinge, in large part, on the performance and reliability of Ferrari’s 2018 power unit. With the works Ferrari team suffering several engine failures in the final rounds of the 2017 championship, it will certainly be a point of focus for the Italian team to improve upon quality control and increase performance in hopes of matching the dominant Mercedes power units of the hybrid era.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this deal for fans of the sport, is young Charles Leclerc locking in a seat for 2018. While Formula 2 (formerly GP2) has produced future F1 drivers in the past, it has been notoriously difficult for young drivers to make their way into the highest tier of single seater racing. The signs looked good for Leclerc to enter for the 2018 season, however, as the newly crowned F2 champion participated in four practice sessions with Sauber as well as completing testing for both the Swiss outfit and Ferrari during the preseason. With Leclerc being a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, many pundits and fans alike, have tipped the Monegasque for a seat at Ferrari alongside four time world champion Sebastian Vettel once Kimi Raikkonen retires.

2018 will be crucial season for both Sauber and Leclerc moving forward in the sport with Sauber looking to challenge for higher positions in the Constructor’s standings and the pressure to do so with new backing from the FCA Group. For Leclerc, it will be his first season competing head to head against some of the biggest names in international motorsport today and his first proper chance to show what he can do in a Formula 1 car. The 2018 Formula 1 season begins on the March 25, 2018 and with it, the beginning of a new era for Sauber.