Vasseur hopes deal will be extended: 'Alfa Romeo is an asset to F1'

Since the 2019 season, the Sauber F1 team has been driving under the iconic Alfa Romeo name. The deal runs until the end of 2021 and the team is in full talks about a contract extension.

The Alfa Romeo name has ties with Formula 1 that go back to the start of the championship in 1950. So the fact that the name returned years later in the twenty-first century is special. Frederic Vasseur, the Alfa Romeo team principal, is hopeful that the partnership will continue in the long term. Talks are currently underway with the newly formed Stellantis Group, which was formed by the merge of the Fiat Chrysler Group - which owned Alfa Romeo - and the PSA Group.

"I think we have a very good and positive discussion with them to extend the contract and I hope we will continue," Vasseur told Autosport. "They have to reorganise the situation a bit on their side [after the merge], but I am very happy and very positive with the last statement from Stellantis about the Alfa Romeo brand. They want to be very supportive and I think Alfa Romeo as a brand is a huge asset for the group. It's also a huge asset to F1 because it's an iconic brand, which was in F1 from the beginning. I hope we can bring everything together," he concludes.

Vasseur hopes they will be able to bring the talks to a successful conclusion to keep Alfa Romeo in Formula One for even longer.