Badges Of Honour

Could the stage be set for more famous marques from the past to return to F1?

Recently a touch of romance has been seen in Formula 1, with the return of the Alfa Romeo name to the sport, and now possibly Maserati, too. There are hard-headed business reasons, of course, for Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne’s decisions to badge the Scuderia’s power units as such and supply the former to the Sauber team and the latter, maybe, to Haas.

Both of these legendary Italian manufacturers have struggled for decades to survive, let alone to do so profitably. Alfa has, especially, never cut it in the American market. With Liberty’s US ambitions for F1 this might be a shrewd decision for pepping up the brand, similarly for Maserati. The production volume aims of each make are quite different, so of course is the car pricing and the target buyers. Thus there is no risk of ‘cannibalism’, the automotive guys’ term for losing sales from one make or model to another.

Then there are whispers regarding Porsche taking the big step, too, as well as Aston Martin (though I struggle a bit with this regarding the financing), which has almost committed to joining the ‘Piranha Club’, if the engine rules for 2021 are more fit-for-purpose.

Racing spirit

Now, as you read this it is January and it’s all New Year resolutions and detox, but as I write it’s Christmas. May I, therefore, just for a few minutes adopt the kind of good cheer that accompanies the festive season when drink has been taken and life assumes a slightly hazy and happier, free-thinking atmosphere?