Alfa Romeo looks set to leveage its F1 partnership with Sauber
Alfa Romeo has committed to an all-electric future beyond 2025 – but that still leaves time for one last petrol-powered send-off.
According to a report from British publication, Car, the Italian brand is preparing to launch a new Formula 1-inspired supercar before its electric switch. The report claims Alfa Romeo CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato is personally behind the project and wants to see the Italian brand – which is now part of the French-run Stellantis conglomerate – celebrate its iconic 33 Stradale sportscar from the 1960s.
While it may seem at odds with the brand’s electric future, building this new supercar would help leverage Alfa Romeo’s expensive sponsorship of the Sauber F1 team.
It would also be easier than some may think, with Stellantis also overseeing several other brands that could help short-cut the development of such a car, specifically fellow Italian brand, Maserati.
The Maserati MC20 is an all-new mid-engine supercar powered by a V6 engine, which would seemingly be the most logical format for Alfa Romeo’s version. While simply styling a new body for the MC20 would seem like a half-hearted effort, it would be a simple, cost-effective solution for Stellantis, helping to amortise the development costs of the MC20 at the same time.
Current Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato reportedly wants to pay tribute to the striking 33 Stradale of the 1960s with the new sports car
If that isn’t good enough for Alfisti, the brand could use its own engine, with the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 in the Giulia and Stelvio performance heroes seemingly capable of powering a supercar. It has already been tuned to punch out 402kW in the track-ready Giulia GTAm (compared to 375kW in the Giulia QV), which should be enough to ensure this new model is suitably rapid.
This engine could likely be installed in a modified version of the carbon fibre chassis used by the MC20. A mid-engine V6, carbon fibre chassis and styling inspired by the 33 Stradale would make for a suitable new hero model for Alfa Romeo.
Alfa Romeo also used Sauber’s windtunnel and engineers to help tune the aerodynamics of the Giulia GTAm, so it’s likely this new sports car would enjoy the same benefits. This would create a direct link between the F1 team and the road car division, extending the partnership from more than just a sponsorship and into a technical partnership.
According to the Car report, a concept could appear as early as 2023 before it’s pushed into production before 2025.
However, there’s also the possibility that Imparato could use this concept of a new supercar to help begin Alfa Romeo’s electric era. Maserati will release an all-electric version of the MC20 in the near-future and Alfa Romeo could piggyback on that platform to showcase its future while also celebrating its past.
Either way, all true Alfisti will be hoping the brand has a new hero model soon…