Does Audi threaten Alfa Romeo's F1 future with Sauber?

Since the news that Volkswagen Group would like to get involved in Formula 1, Audi and Porsche have been the subject of many rumours. Both car brands are part of the parent company of Volkswagen and both brands are very keen to get their name involved in Formula 1. At Porsche it is almost certain which team will be chosen, at Audi there seemed to be several teams in the race for a long time.

Porsche has been a sponsor of Red Bull Racing for some time now and it seems more than logical that they will join forces with the team of Max Verstappen. At Audi, there are still some question marks, although it looks more and more like Sauber is the team that Audi wants to take over. At the moment the Sauber team is running under the Alfa Romeo name but officially Sauber will have to make a decision about the future of the team.

Alfa Romeo 'not blind' to Audi

Asked about that future by Motorsport.com concerning Alfa Romeo, the Italian brand's CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato, thinks that they should not worry at Alfa Romeo just yet. "I must say, I’m not totally blind," he says. According to Imparato, they know that there are connections between Audi and Sauber, but it would not be a reason to change Alfa Romeo's strategy.

"If one day somebody takes a leap, whatever the leap, on anything, we will take the decision we have to make. The world is open for us." Imparato does let it be known that they have entered a new period with Sauber, where both parties have come out better financially. The partnership with Alfa Romeo has been reasonably successful so far and if it were up to the CEO of the Italian marque, it would stay that way for a while.