Bottas to Alfa…taking the Merc engine with him

[The Moose]

Potential? Could be interesting. Thoughts?!

[TheDeuce]

The Moose said:

Thoughts?!

Alfa is connected to Ferrari commercially outside of F1.. And, obviously, Italian - not German.

the only way Bottas could take the Merc PU to Alfa is if Alfa are to withdraw and return the team to just 'Sauber', pending a new namesake sponsor.

So it could only be true, if it's also true Alfa are about to withdraw from F1..

[thegreenhell]

TheDeuce said:

Alfa is connected to Ferrari commercially outside of F1.. And, obviously, Italian - not German.

the only way Bottas could take the Merc PU to Alfa is if Alfa are to withdraw and return the team to just 'Sauber', pending a new namesake sponsor.

So it could only be true, if it's also true Alfa are about to withdraw from F1..

Even if all that were to happen, which current Mercedes customer would lose out? When Honda announced their withdrawal at the end of last year, Mercedes said they couldn't supply more than the four teams they currently have. They all have long term contracts, as does Sauber with Ferrari.

Why would Bottas have any particular influence to take a Mercedes engine with him to a new team anyway? That's never happened before that I can recall. If he was that important to Mercedes then he'd stay where he is now.

[snotrag]

As above.... If the team is remaining as Alfa Romeo, no way they will be Alfa Romeo-Mercedes.

Alfa is a Ferrari B team, almost.



However if Alfa drop out, then Sauber Mercedes is a possibility for sure.

[Evercross]

The Moose said:

Potential? Could be interesting. Thoughts?!

A pretty ignorant suggestion, for the reasons already stated.

Potential - absolutely none whatsoever. Alfa is a sub-brand of Stellantis aka the merger company formed by Peugeot and FIAT/Chrysler Autos and inextricably linked to Ferrari. They are corporate rivals to Mercedes in every sense.

You need to have been living under a rock for the past 10 years to not realise this and make such a stupid suggestion. It would be handing Ferrari the secrets of the Mercedes F1 powertrain and creating an unholy alliance between two completely disparate companies who are in commercial competition with each other.

[thegreenhell]

Alfa announced an extension to the deal only a few weeks ago. I don't think they're planning to leave just yet.

[TheDeuce]

thegreenhell said:

TheDeuce said:

Alfa is connected to Ferrari commercially outside of F1.. And, obviously, Italian - not German.

the only way Bottas could take the Merc PU to Alfa is if Alfa are to withdraw and return the team to just 'Sauber', pending a new namesake sponsor.

So it could only be true, if it's also true Alfa are about to withdraw from F1..

Even if all that were to happen, which current Mercedes customer would lose out? When Honda announced their withdrawal at the end of last year, Mercedes said they couldn't supply more than the four teams they currently have. They all have long term contracts, as does Sauber with Ferrari.

Why would Bottas have any particular influence to take a Mercedes engine with him to a new team anyway? That's never happened before that I can recall. If he was that important to Mercedes then he'd stay where he is now.

The only reason I can think that he would be likely to 'take the merc engine' to another team, is if Merc feel that in his hands at that new team, their engine was likely to earn worthwhile points - not that collectively Mercedes PU's are short of points vs their competitors this era. That's just one consideration though, there are other significant considerations such as brand suitability and IP protection. I seriously doubt Alfa want their F1 cars to run Mercedes power anymore than Mercedes want their PU's used by a team with such close ties to Ferrari.

Regards how many teams Merc can supply... Toto did say there way no way he could supply any more teams than at present, but that was when the potential customer team would have been Red Bull! What's the betting that if he really wanted another team to run Merc power, he would suddenly realise there is capacity after all..

[mw88]

I don't see how that's possible. Unless a) Alfa Romeo are no longer Title Sponsor - Sauber have been using Ferrari engines since 97, apart from when BMW took over and b) Williams take Renault engines - Mercedes currently supply the maximum number of teams.

[snotrag]

thegreenhell said:

Alfa announced an extension to the deal only a few weeks ago. I don't think they're planning to leave just yet.

I had not spotted this, and in which case the first of my two statements above stands even firmer. Not in a million years.

Like the poster above I wouldnt even think to consider it! Ferrari=Alfa Romeo!

[The Moose]

thegreenhell said:

Alfa announced an extension to the deal only a few weeks ago. I don't think they're planning to leave just yet.

In that case, you're probably right!!

I thought I'd read that Alfa had not extended this deal. Maybe the article I'd read was outdated or uninformed. That was where the thought came from!

[HARTLEYHARE1]

Wouldn’t give bottas a lego engine never mind anything else

Way way overrated

[zsdom]

HARTLEYHARE1 said:

Wouldn’t give bottas a lego engine never mind anything else

Way way overrated

He’s not overrated, he’s overshadowed

Edited by zsdom on Thursday 2nd September 21:16

[Pickled]

Maybe he’s letting them have the engine out of his AMG One…

[Teddy Lop]

Evercross said:

The Moose said:

Potential? Could be interesting. Thoughts?!

A pretty ignorant suggestion, for the reasons already stated.

Potential - absolutely none whatsoever. Alfa is a sub-brand of Stellantis aka the merger company formed by Peugeot and FIAT/Chrysler Autos and inextricably linked to Ferrari. They are corporate rivals to Mercedes in every sense.

You need to have been living under a rock for the past 10 years to not realise this and make such a stupid suggestion. It would be handing Ferrari the secrets of the Mercedes F1 powertrain and creating an unholy alliance between two completely disparate companies who are in commercial competition with each other.

Plus, are they allowed to supply more than 4 teams? Didn't they have to get permission to supply a forth team in McLaren as it is? So even if they did it'd have to come at the cost of a current Merc customer.

[MustangGT]

Teddy Lop said:

Plus, are they allowed to supply more than 4 teams? Didn't they have to get permission to supply a forth team in McLaren as it is? So even if they did it'd have to come at the cost of a current Merc customer.

This. Not going to happen, Merc already supplies the maximum number, so unless Williams and Alfa swap engine suppliers Alfa will stay with Ferrari.

[LucyP]

Bottas will be at Alfa and the power unit will be a Ferrari. Alfa is Ferrari's B team. Haas is its Pay as You Go team. They all need a B team as Red Bull have proved. Mercedes have Aston Martin as their B team. The factories are 10 minutes drive apart. They don't need another B team 700 odd miles away.

Stellantis will want to keep the Alfa name associated with sporty and racing, until they decide what to do with it and how it fits into their portfolio of brands. As they have found out, it's the one brand that needs sorting out the most.

[andburg]

only way it would fit would be if Alfa were looking at merc engines for its road cars, but then you lose the ferrari derived selling point.

not happening, but merc could be offering the engines as a sweetener to help look after Bottas

[thegreenhell]

Merc can't supply five teams. They don't have the capacity and they aren't allowed anyway. Why would they offer such a sweetener to another team to take a driver they don't want in their own team anymore? If they like Bottas that much that they want him to be Mercedes-powered they'll keep him in their own team or pay Williams to take him.

[andburg]

perhaps the williams engine deal will come to end when russell leaves, Williams Renault rumours have been around for a while now

[thegreenhell]

They extended the contract earlier this year to 2025. It's not tied to a driver.