Sauber Formula 1 will be rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing from the start of the '19 season, according to the BBC. Alfa Romeo was last on the F1 grid as a constructor in '85 "but returned to the sport last season as Sauber's title sponsor." The Swiss team said that the ownership and management structure "remains unchanged but the Sauber name will disappear." Sauber has been a "fixture" in F1 since '93, when team boss Peter Sauber "made the switch from sports car racing." Kimi Räikkönen, the '07 world champion, and Antonio Giovinazzi will race for the rebranded outfit, which finished eighth in the constructors' championship last season and will again be powered by Ferrari engines in '19. The renaming of the Sauber team as Alfa Romeo may on the one hand be a rebranding exercise for marketing purposes, but it is also a seminal moment in Formula 1 history.
'SEMINAL MOMENT': The BBC's Andrew Benson wrote, "The renaming of the Sauber team as Alfa Romeo may on the one hand be a rebranding exercise for marketing purposes, but it is also a seminal moment in Formula 1 history. It marks the first time an F1 team will be solely named after the iconic Italian manufacturer since 1985 -- and the first time the Sauber name will not be on the grid since 1993" (BBC, 2/1). REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported Alfa Romeo has a "strong heritage" in F1 with the first two world championships in '50 and '51 won by Italian Giuseppe Farina and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio in cars "carrying the four-leaf clover emblem." Ferrari’s late founder, Enzo, "also started out racing and managing a team for Alfa Romeo," before setting up on his own in the late '30s (REUTERS, 2/1).
