Good news for seasoned Formula 1 fans: next year the Alfa Romeo team will be back on the racing track after a more than 30-year break. Alfa's Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, 65, who is also both Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler CEO confirmed this in his recent interview to Autosport as he spoke of his wider plans to revamp the venerable brand, as well as strengthen his own reputation before retiring in 2019. According to Bloomberg, for this milestone endeavour, the Italian carmaker signed a multi-year partnership deal with Sauber, the company well known for their lasting cooperation with Ferrari.

The deal will result in what is to be known as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, and the related team statement mentions strategic, commercial and technological cooperation, as well as an exchange of engineering and technical know-how. A new Alfa Romeo tie-up deal was reported to be a key part of the recent negotiations between Ferrari and Sauber for an enhanced F1 partnership. As Marchionne optimistically put it in, "This agreement with the Sauber F1 team is a significant step in the reshaping of the Alfa Romeo brand, which will return to Formula 1 after an absence of more than 30 years." He also added that Ferrari “will not play” unless it is to be provided with “a set of circumstances, the result of which is beneficial for the maintenance of the brand in the marketplace and to strengthening the unique position of Ferrari.”

Return Of The King: Alfa Romeo's long and celebrated auto racing history

Alfa Romeo is known as the Italian sportscar unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

In the recent years, the company invested in its overhaul over 5 billion euros ($6 billion) after its model line-up shrank and sales collapsed during the last decade. The Formula's global appeal would bring the brand much needed wider exposure and polish its image after it suffered a setback with its previous attempts to expand beyond the European market.

The new Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team will be equipped with engines from Ferrari, the company which spun off from Fiat Chrysler a year ago. This year the company introduced Stelvio, its first-ever SUV, which followed the release of the Giulia sedan a year ago. The new F1 foray appears to be perfectly logical as Alfa Romeo has a very long and successful racing record.

It competed successfully in a wide range of events which included Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing, and numerous rallies. The Turin based brand competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries which usually came under names of Alfa Corse and Autodelta, as well as private entries. When it comes Formula 1, the company's participation spanned from 1950 to 1988, both as a constructor and engine supplier, and it won the first two drivers’ world championships, in 1950 and 1951. Its partner brand Ferrari is the only carmaker to date which had taken part in every edition of the Formula 1 World Championship since its start more than half a century ago, and it is worth remembering that Enzo Ferrari founded the Scuderia Ferrari racing team in 1929 as an Alfa Romeo racing team.
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