Tazio Nuvolari aboard a works Alfa at Monza in th early 1930's source supplied
FORMULA 1’s first world champions Alfa Romeo could be making
a return to the sport, if Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has his way.
The company, which owns both Alfa and Ferrari, revealed it
is considering bringing the brand back to F1 after an absence of 30 years.
“It’s incredible how the Alfa Romeo brand remains in
people’s hearts,” Marchionne told reporters at Ferrari’s annual end-of-year
news conference in Maranello.
“That’s why we’re thinking about its return to racing, as
our competitor, in Formula 1. It’s important for Alfa to return.”
Fiat’s purchase of Alfa in the late 1980s signalled the
marque’s exit from F1, with its new owners electing to avoid putting two of its
key brands into direct conflict.
If Alfa Romeo is to return, it will not do so as a bespoke
manufacturer; instead, it will be a branding exercise.
In addition to Ferrari’s own works squad, the Scuderia’s
engines will power the cars of Sauber, Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, and the new
Haas squad during the 2016 championship.
Any of these three squads could conceivably race with its
Ferrari engines rebranded as Alfa Romeo, should Fiat Chrysler press on with its
plans.
ALFA ROMEO’S DECORATED GRAND PRIX HISTORY
1920s-30s: Italy’s leading hope
Alfa Romeo was a dominant force in what was known as Grand Prix racing during
the roaring twenties, with cars like the P2, the Monza and its venerable P3
collecting victories in big events across Europe, including motorsport’s first
world championship — a distant forerunner to the current F1 title — in 1925.
Piloted by legendary drivers like Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto
Ascari, Achille Varzi and the meteoric Guy Moll, Alfa would later entrust its
factory-backed racing efforts to a small, emerging concern based in Modena:
Scuderia Ferrari.
The arrival of the might of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union,
all-German efforts backed to the hilt by government funding, curbed Alfa’s
winning streak, although Nuvolari famously embarrassed the Silver Arrows on
home soil with an unexpected victory in the 1935 German Grand Prix at the
Nurburgring.
But just before war broke out in Europe in 1930, Alfa
unveiled its new supercharged, 1.5 litre-engined 158 racer, a car that would
have a big future.
Dr. Giuseppe Farina wins the first world championship F1 GP at Silverstone 1950
1950s: Formula 1’s first champions
The 158 was at the forefront of the sport as racing resumed
after the Second World War. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille was the leading
driver of the era aboard an Alfa, but his death in a racing crash prior to the
inaugural Formula 1 World Championship in 1950 means his feats are often
overlooked.
Alfa was the benchmark in that first season, Dr. Giuseppe
Farina winning the first race and clinching the first championship ahead of
teammate Juan Manuel Fangio, before the Argentinian great turned the tables in
1951 to take the first of his five titles.
But Alfa saw the writing on the wall. The 1951 season saw an
increased challenge from Scuderia Ferrari, now building their own cars, whose
normally aspirated 4.5-litre machine was proving to be just as fast and less
thirsty on fuel than their new supercharged 159.
A change in regulations for the world championship, which
briefly moved to Formula 2 regulations for 1952-53, saw Alfa bow out of the
sport on top at the end of the season.
Alfa's flat 12 engine in the back of Carlos Pace's Brabham in 1976. Source Getty images
1970s: Two famous names combine
Although engines from its sports car racing program were
tried by several private entrants, it would not be until 1976 that Alfa
returned to F1, this time solely as an engine manufacturer.
The Brabham team, looking for an alternative to the
ubiquitous Ford Cosworth DFV engine, partnered with Alfa to put an F1-spec flat
12 engine into the back of their cars from 1976 onwards.
Though powerful, the Alfa engine was heavier, thirstier and
less reliable than the motors used by rivals Ford and Ferrari. After a pair of
near misses in 1977, Niki Lauda took two wins in 1978 — one of which was earnt
by Brabham’s ingenious ‘fan car’ — but that would be all Alfa would have to
show for their toils.
A new V12 engine developed for 1979 failed to turn the tide,
and Brabham opted to return to using Ford V8 power before the end of the
season. But Alfa wasn’t done with F1 just yet.
Mario Andretti let the Alfa team in 1981 - source Getty images
1980s: Out on its own
With their involvement in sports car racing petering out, Alfa Romeo’s
competition division, Autodelta, was given the green light to develop its own
Formula 1 car powered by the new V12.
After a few cursory outings in 1979, the factory Alfas
launched a full-scale tilt at the world championship in 1980, with the full
backing of Marlboro, led by star driver Patrick Depailler. Tragedy struck when
the popular Frenchman was killed in a testing crash midyear, but the team began
to show promise with several impressive runs in late-season races by Bruno
Giacomelli, including a pole position at Watkins Glen.
Despite the recruitment of Mario Andretti they failed to
carry that momentum forward in 1981, before the outsourcing of its chassis
design and the arrival of another new driver saw an upturn in their fortunes
for 1982. Andrea de Cesaris put Alfa’s new 182 on pole for its second race and
led several laps before crashing out, while the Italian saw another potential
win slip through his fingers when he ran out of fuel at Monaco.
Alfa followed the turbocharged trend into 1983 by developing
a turbo-V8 motor for its new 183T, de Cesaris dominating the Belgian Grand Prix
at Spa-Francorchamps before a mechanical failure ended his day. But his podium
finish in the final race of the season would prove a last hurrah before a nosedive
in fortunes.
Full-scale backing from Benetton and the addition of
Ricciardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever netted precious few good finishes in 1984.
An even more dire season in 1985 — one where they abandoned their 1985 car
altogether and switched back to the 1984 model — resulted in Alfa pulling the
plug on its factory team at the end of the season.
he little Osella squad purchased Alfa’s remaining stock of
motors, using them through to the end of the end of the turbo engine era in
1988.
Alfa also developed its own new four-cylinder turbo for
Ligier’s use in 1987 but strong criticism from driver Rene Arnoux after early
testing, as well as Fiat’s purchase of Alfa Romeo, saw the deal dissolved
before the season began.
The next time the Alfa Romeo logo would appear in Formula 1
would be on the sidepods of Ferrari’s 2015 challenger.
Cheever and Patrese struggled throughout the 1985 season. Alfa's last in F1. Source Getty Images
TITLE: Alfa Romeo 164 ProCar
SIZE: 650x366px
CAPTION: Video: Alfa Romeo 164 ProCar
1988: An F1 engine that never made it to F1
When it pulled out of the sport, Alfa had already been developing a new
3.5-litre V10 engine for the new normally-aspirated rules set to come into
force in 1989.
Work started on it in 1985 and could have joined fellow V10
runners Honda and Renault on the grid in 1989 but for one small problem: new
owners Fiat didn’t want Alfa Romeo in F1.
With Fiat owning both Ferrari and Alfa, it decided there was
no point allowing its marques to compete on the same stage: Ferrari would
continue to uphold Italian fortunes in F1, while Alfa would limit its
activities to their longtime playground of touring car racing.
Alfa looked to the new ProCar series as a potential home for
its new V10. Developed by Bernie Ecclestone to essentially replace Group A
touring car racing, the rules placed a road car body — with minimalist
aerodynamic wings — over the top of a two-seater F1 chassis and engine.
Manufacturers stayed away in droves anticipating high development costs, with
Alfa’s Brabham-built, V10-powered 164 the only ProCar ever completed.
The company also briefly investigated a return to sports car
racing, going as far as building a Group C prototype machine during 1990 with
an eye to racing in 1991, but it too would never turn a competitive lap.
An Alfa finished the Indy 500 just once, Al Unser coming home 13th in 1990
Post-F1: Touring cars and a dalliance with Indy
Alfa was handballed Ferrari’s stillborn IndyCar motor and embarked on a brief
and unsuccessful tenure as an engine supplier. Danny Sullivan would net their
best result, a fourth-place finish at the inaugural Gold Coast Indy in 1991.
Its touring car program produced several successes, the 155
dominating the early Supertouring era and was a major force in the German-based
DTM and ITC championships, while the 156 dominated the reformed European
Touring Car Championship in the early 2000s.
STATS (as an engine supplier)
Races: 214
Race wins: 12
Podium finishes: 40
Pole positions: 15
Fastest laps: 20
Drivers’ world championships: 2
source: http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport/formula-one/f1-fiat-chrysler-considering-bringing-alfa-romeo-brand-back-to-formula-1-competing-with-ferrari/story-e6frf3zl-1227646142368
by Will Dale
http://www.fzrestoration.com
