Opinion: Why Sauber can compete with Top 3 in 2019
- Shahmir Khan
- Feb 7, 2019
- 2 min read
Alfa Romeo is officially back to F1 after being the title sponsor of Sauber in 2018. But before even car launch and pre-season testing, everyone around the paddock is quite optimistic about the performance of the Italian team.
There are already rumors that the Alfa Romeo team is receiving huge budget advantage over most of the mid-field teams, as the sponsorship that brought €50 Million to Sauber, now targeting by €250 Million for it's 2019 budget.
The immense budget advantage brought by the sponsorship means that, they have huge advantage over Renault and McLaren, both finishing 4th and 6th respectively and are works teams.
Meanwhile, Sauber finished 8th in the standings last year but it had great development, and with Charles Leclerc as a rookie, finished a record 6th in Azerbaijan, something they lacked in last few years.
For 2019, it's not only the budget that is an important factor, as the team has now most experienced driver on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen alongside former Ferrari protégé Antonio Giovinazzi.
Raikkonen had ill-starred years at Ferrari, as he was treated Number 2 driver most of the time. The ice broke at 2018 Italian Grand Prix where Kimi ignored team orders, before getting announced as 2019 driver for Sauber/Alfa Romeo.
He got his win at Circuit of the Americas, getting a long-awaited win after more than 5 years. The ace Finn now heads to the team he started his career with, and is quite optimistic of his future at the team.
Meanwhile Giovinazzi is another talent to look out for. Fresh rookie who graduated from Ferrari's driver academy while also winning lots of junior Formulae and finishing 3rd in Asian Le Mans Series with Jagonya Ayam, before finishing as a runner-up in GP2 series. He is a driver to look out for on the grid. Who will emerge better out of the two, is still something only the time will tell.
Aside from it's drivers, the car is slightly improved, as Team Principal Frederic Vasseur talked about some of the recruitment including Kimi Raikkonen:
"We signed a good deal with Ferrari for engines and then Alfa Romeo joined and we are much more attractive for other sponsors and for recruitment also."
Though, the Team Principal Frederic Vasseur also said his team is out of contention to compete with the top 3, Simone Resta, who joined Sauber for 2019 after working as chief designer for Ferrari claims that, the 2019 car is designed with "as little caution as possible" and will have "innovations nowt seen on any other F1 car so far."
With it's radical and sharp design including new innovations, it's completely new driver lineup and heavy budget injected by Alfa Romeo with a possible chance of getting acquired by Fiat in future, Alfa Romeo is one team that Haas, Renault and potentially Red Bull with it's Honda engine still to prove anything, has to beat in 2019.
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