Was Alfa Romeo on the brink of collapse? 'Don't think we'd still be there'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
In response to the coronary pandemic, the FIA decided halfway through the long drawn-in stop to push forward the rule changes for 2021 to 2022, to give the teams financial room to recover from the heavy blow they had received from the lockdown. Looking back on that period, team boss Fred Vasseur sees that this measure has saved at least one team.
"Such an action (freezing of parts) is never easy, of course, because you are afraid that you are going to give someone else an advantage. However, we were in such a difficult situation that we had to", explains Alfa Romeo's team boss to Autosport. "We had also imagined that there would be teams against such measures. If you feel that your car is not going well in Barcelona, you don't want it to take you 18 months".
Alfa Romeo great source of motivation
Nevertheless, Vasseur is pleased to see that the teams have come to a joint solution. "Fortunately we have achieved that, because I think that otherwise we would not have been there as a team". The team's title sponsor is Alfa Romeo, but in fact still goes by the name of Sauber. However, the Italian car manufacturer has joined the F1 team for another year.
According to Vasseur that is a great relief. "It is even crucial for us. I won't talk about the financial aspect, but that is certainly part of the whole thing. Of course it is also the motivation that keeps you in the team. That you can pay for extra development for the company. The fact that Alfa Romeo, as the first world champion ever, wants to move forward with us is not just a reward, but also a next step," says Vasseur.