The Alfa Romeo name will split with Sauber Motorsport at the end of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, it was announced on Friday.
The Italian marque has been part of Sauber since 2018 and recently committed to an additional year for next season, but that will be the final season of the partnership – the team is currently known as Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN but is likely to revert back to the Sauber F1 Team in 2024.
Since they’ve been a part of the sport, they have seen Charles Leclerc, Marcus Ericsson, Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Kubica, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu race for them, but the final two may be the last to compete for Alfa Romeo in Formula 1, at least in this stint.
They have yet to take a podium finish in that time, with a fourth place for Räikkönen in the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2019 the best result, although their form in 2022 has been a lot stronger than it had been in the two years prior.
“Alfa Romeo communicates that its partnership with Sauber Motorsport will end within the end of 2023,” read a statement on Friday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
“Alfa Romeo announced its return in F1 in 2017 with a long term plan, and in July 2022 has announced the decision to continue its partnership with Sauber also for 2023, given to the promising results of the first half of the season, both in terms of performances, marketing and positive collaboration with the team.
“Since the economic and industrial turnaround of the brand will be achieved in 2022, Alfa Romeo will now evaluate among the many opportunities on the table, and decide which will be the best one to sustain the long term strategy and the positioning of the brand.”
Rumours are that Audi Sport will join Sauber in their place, particularly with the announcement that the German marque will join the Formula 1 grid as an engine supplier in 2026, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.
