Earlier this week news emerged of the agreement for the Alfa Romeo name to return to Formula 1. Taking over the struggling Sauber outfit which in turn becomes Alfa Romeo Sauber F1. A welcome surprise, this brings back an auspicious name and heritage to the sport. It also affords the team better technical support from Ferrari and the use of a current 2018 full spec engine. This alone will radically improve performance over the 2016 unit used in the 2017 season.
As for the drivers, well Charles was a given. Let’s hope his incredible performance on F2 moves across to F1, this hasn’t always been the case. While Marcus will be under some pressure, having never driven a competitive car, it has always been difficult to assess his pace which has closely matched that of the highly rather Pascal Wehrlein. Both drivers will be pushing to quickly raise the rank and profile of the team and it is essential to Ferrari that they be nearer the front. Especially with a resurgent Renault and McLaren back in the mix.