Sauber rebranded as Alpha Romeo Racing: The Formula One team has been given a new name ahead of the 2019 season.
Renowned Formula One team Sauber has been renamed to Alpha Romeo Racing for the upcoming season. It is worth mentioning that Sauber and Alfa Romeo joined hands in late 2017 as part of a fresh partnership between the team and the Italian manufacturer.
Earlier entering the race as Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, the team will not race under the banner of Alfa Romeo Racing. The development was confirmed by Alfa Romeo’s parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
“The 2019 Formula One World Championship will see two of the most historical brands in motorsport – Alfa Romeo and Sauber – return to circuits across the globe with 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and the young Italian Antonio Giovinazzi driving for Alfa Romeo Racing, formerly referred to as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team,” a statement from FCA reads.
The statement also laid emphasis on the fact that the car of Alfa Romeo Racing will support the ‘four-leaf clover emblem’ and acknowledged the the partnership which saw the team finish at the eighth position last season.
“Just one year after it was founded on the 24th June 1910, Alfa Romeo made its debut in an official competition, winning the first Regularity Race in Modena. Since then, its sporting legend has been a string of victories and top-three finishes in many international championships, including Formula One. In 2019, the cars of Alfa Romeo Racing will sport the time-honoured four-leaf clover emblem that since 1923 has identified the fastest Alfa Romeo models
“The long-term partnership between Title Sponsor Alfa Romeo and Sauber was initiated in 2018. Over the past year, the Team made continuous progress and finished the championship in 8th place. The term of the collaboration has been further extended, with the ownership and management of Sauber remaining unchanged and independent. As Alfa Romeo Racing, the goal continues to be the achievement of ambitious results at the pinnacle of motorsport,” the statement mentioned.
Alfa Romeo Racing team principal Frederic Vasseur expressed pleasure at announcing the update. “It is a pleasure to announce that we will enter the 2019 Formula One World Championship with the Team name ‘Alfa Romeo Racing’,” he said.
Vasseur added that the recent collaboration has aided them to make progress across divisions, giving a boost of motivation to each member.
“After initiating the collaboration with our Title Sponsor Alfa Romeo in 2018, our team made fantastic progress on the technical, commercial, and sporting side. This has given a boost of motivation to each team member, be that track-side or at the headquarter in Switzerland, as the hard work invested has become reflected in our results.
“We aim to continue developing every sector of our team while allowing our passion for racing, technology and design to drive us forward,” he said.
