Dec.20 (GMM) Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imperato says he turned down the opportunity to keep the Italian carmaker’s name in Formula 1 for 2024.
With Sauber now already part-owned by VW-owned Audi ahead of their full works Formula 1 project for 2026, the Swiss team’s naming deal with Alfa Romeo has ended.
However, there had been rumours that Alfa Romeo would simply switch to a similar sponsorship arrangement with another Ferrari-linked F1 team – Haas.
Imperato says he ultimately decided against it.
“Did we want to repeat an experience under the same conditions, by being a sponsor of a team for about twice the price?” he is quoted by Ouest France newspaper.
“No, because it didn’t bring anything new and I had money to put into the development of my products,” the Alfa Romeo CEO added.
“Becoming sponsor of another team and starting with the same story made little sense.”
Imperato, however, says he is still interested in keeping Alfa Romeo near the top-tiers of motor racing – with his eyes now turning to Le Mans and the world endurance championship.
A commitment to that has not yet been made.
“If I do it, I don’t do it as a sponsor, I do it as an owner,” Imperato insists.
“And secondly, we would do it for a long time. We wouldn’t do it for less than three seasons, with one or two seasons of preparation.”
He says there are also major financial hurdles.
“The economic equation has not yet convinced me and I would not make the company take a risk that could send it back to areas where it would lose financially,” said the Alfa Romeo CEO, who is also a top executive at the John Elkann-led parent group Stellantis.
“There is a small danger of a trend towards inflation in expenses in endurance racing,” Imperato explained, “which is starting to look very similar to what was happening in 2015.
“But I really want to do something, so we work a lot. As soon as we find something that works, we’ll say what the program is.”