Alfa Romeo celebrates 60th Anniversary of Autodelta at 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix

• Alfa Romeo is celebrating 60 years of Autodelta with new logo on the Alfa Romeo Team Stake F1 car at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix
• Since 1963, Autodelta has been the official racing department of Alfa Romeo and a training ground for Italian and international drivers

To mark the 60^th Anniversary of the legendary Alfa Romeo racing division Autodelta, a celebratory logo will be displayed on the Alfa Romeo Team Stake C43 F1 car at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday 5 March.

The Centro Stile Alfa Romeo has created the logo to symbolise the heritage and legacy of the Autodelta team, while looking ahead to the future of Alfa Romeo and reinventing sportiness for the 21^st Century. The new logo preserves the historic look and colours of the Autodelta badge with additions of the Italian flag and the anniversary date, underlining the longevity of Autodelta and how the brand remains etched in the mind of motorsport enthusiasts.

The Autodelta logo was most recently used on the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA project. Considered one of the finest expressions of Alfa Romeo heritage, the Giulia GTA utilises technical know-how derived from the brand’s links with Sauber Engineering and Formula 1. It was presented at the old Officine Autodelta, in the Centro Sperimentale Alfa Romeo, where the Giulia Sprint GTA, one of the most successful cars in the brand's history, was created in the 1960s.

Cristiano Fiorio, Alfa Romeo F1 Manager: "For Alfa Romeo, to symbolically bring the Autodelta logo to the track on the C43, represents a strong celebratory tribute to an extraordinary chapter in Alfa Romeo motorsport. The level of concentration is at its highest, and from the traffic lights switching on in Bahrain to the last corner of the last Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo will give it all to achieve the ambitious goals of the season".

Autodelta: Alfa Romeo's legendary Racing Department

On 5 March, 1963, Carlo Chiti and the Chizzola brothers founded a small company based in Feletto Umberto, near Udine, with the aim of collaborating with Alfa Romeo in the construction of the Giulia ‘Tubolare Zagato’ (TZ). The Giulia TZ was a compact gran turismo designed by Zagato, built on the engine and mechanics of the Giulia, and equipped with an exclusive tubular chassis. The company soon became the Alfa Romeo Racing Department, and, in 1965 it was bought by the brand with the aim of running the official comeback to competition following withdrawal of Alfa Romeo from the F1 World Championship in 1951, when it won its second title with 'Alfetta'.

To facilitate the return to racing, the company decided to create an ad hoc racing organisation detached from the production facility. Under General Manager Carlo Chiti, Autodelta was relocated to Settimo Milanese, not far from Arese, where some of the most famous Alfa Romeo racing cars were born, including the legendary 1965 Giulia Sprint GTA, which won three consecutive Challenge Europeo Marche. The Giulia Sprint GTA was the first touring car to lap the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife in under 10 minutes.

In 1968 Autodelta prototype cars won the category victory at the 24 hours of Daytona, the 1000 km of Nürburgring, the 500 km of Imola and the 24 hours of Le Mans. The 33 TT 12 of 1975 was also remarkable, winning the World Championship of Marche, repeating the victory two years later with the 33 SC 12. Following this success, Autodelta took over the management of all of the Alfa Romeo sporting programmes, until it was disbanded in 1985.  

Autodelta also provided a formidable training ground for many Italian drivers, including Andrea De Adamich, Arturo Merzario, Andrea De Cesaris, Bruno Giacomelli, Giorgio Francia. It was also a successful proving ground for many non-Italian champions including Jochen Rindt, Jacky Ickx, Jean Pierre Jarier and Mario Andretti.

ENDS