Sauber unveils bold new Alfa Romeo livery for 2018

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The Sauber team has revealed its bold new car livery for 2018 after announcing its partnership with new title sponsor Alfa Romeo.

The team held a launch event at Alfa Romeo’s museum in Milan on Saturday, during which it pulled the covers off its new car.

The design is predominantly white and deep red, with a large Alfa Romeo logo on the engine cover. It's a big change from this year's blue, white and gold trim look.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne was among the speakers at the launch. Also attending were Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey and FIA president Jean Todt, a former Ferrari team principal.

"I am proud of the team," Sauber principal Frederic Vasseur told the official Formula 1 website in advance of the event. "Life is not easy when you are at the back.

"We are improving. We are on a good way. We’ve made some good steps on the car in the factory. So there is real progress visible. Small step by small step – but moving steadily forward. Miracles don’t happen by snapping your fingers.

"Success is always the addition of small things, so if motivation is there the rest should follow. I definitely do believe that – especially when you have the chance to team up with such an iconic partner as Alfa Romeo."

As well as unveiling its new car, the team also showed off its new logo.

It also confirmed that Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc would be the team's main drivers next year. Antonio Giovinazzi will be the squad's test and reserve driver.

Leclerc and Giovinazzi are both graduates of the Ferrari Driver Academy. The deal with Alfa Romeo means that Sauber will have closer ties with Ferrari next season.

Ericsson keeps seat at Sauber for 2018 alongside Leclerc

Strategic, commercial and technological cooperation are among the benefits from the deal. Sauber will also have use of the latest specification Ferrari engine, which will be supplied under Alfa Romeo branding.

It will be the first time that Alfa has been involved in Formula 1 since its works team project between 1979 and 1985. Its most recent motorsports participation was in touring cars in the 1990s and 2000s.

Alfa posted a promotional video to celebrate its new role on Saturday.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.