Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Alfa Romeo F1 return being explored

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Alfa Romeo could return to F1 as a competitor to Ferrari as part of a plan to promote the brand by Fiat Chrysler.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne holds the title of CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and has been working to increase Alfa Romeo's global visibility, with the marque's logo featuring prominently on this year's Ferrari.

Speaking during the Ferrari Christmas press conference in Maranello, Marchionne says one avenue being explored to further promote the brand is to enter it as a new team to race against Ferrari in F1.

"It's incredible how the Alfa marque remains in people's hearts," Marchionne is quoted as saying by Reuters. "For that very reason we are thinking about bringing it back, as our competitor, to racing, to Formula One. It's important for Alfa to return."

Alfa Romeo previously race in Formula One during the first two years of the world championship, winning back-to-back drivers' titles with Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio respectively. Having scaled its involvement back to be an engine supplier for over 30 years, Alfa Romeo returned as a constructor from 1979-1985, scoring five podiums in that time.

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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.