Alessandro Alunni Bravi is a man of many talents, and he played a significant role in Robert Kubica's return to Formula 1. He is currently one of the key figures at Alfa Romeo, which will soon be rebranded as Audi. He talked about the current season and results, the drivers, the desire to combat the Italian mafia, collaboration with Robert Kubica, and more in an interview with Roksana Ćwik.
What is your opinion on Andretti and his desire to join the Formula 1 grid?
For me, I think that the FIA did a very rigorous assessment and due diligence process. Of course, now there is a second phase as important as the one performed by the FIA with the commercial right order. We always said that in principle we don't oppose any new team joining Formula 1, but any new team must bring added value to all the F1 community and not only in the short or medium term but also in the long term. I think if all these conditions are met by the Andretti candidacy, we will be ready to welcome him. If those conditions will not be met, I think that in Formula 1 we have a strong environment, 10 teams that have been showing during this period to work well together, to take the right decisions. If there is no need to improve and change the situation, it is better to stay with the current 10 teams. If there is a new team that brings real added value, we are always happy to welcome them.
So far, Alfa Romeo has scored points in 5 races. You are now in 9th position in the constructors' standings and are fighting with Haas and Williams. Are you planning any significant car upgrades for the last races of the season?
Of course, this year has been quite tough for many teams. We have seen the competition really tight in the second part of the field, with one point or two points that can change completely from finishing P8 to finishing P10. As a team, we will keep developing our car until the very last race. We have done a big effort back in Hinwil, in the summer, to bring important upgrades in Zandvoort, in Monza, in Singapore. Also, here we introduced a new rear wing, lower element. We will have constant upgrades until the very last race. This is important because, of course, our target is and remains P7 in the Constructor Championship, but we know that we have to do something more than what we have done so far.
Are you happy with how the season unfolded for your team in terms of results?
I'm not happy because if we are happy to be P9, it means that we don't understand the sport and the challenge. We need always to want more. Of course, I think that we have missed some important opportunities as a team, like in Hungary, where we started P5 and P7. We have been a bit inconsistent during this season and, of course, qualifying performance remains one of our weak points. We have addressed most of this together with our drivers, with our engineers, and we have also seen that the last developments helped us find more performance in qualifying. But now we need to execute a perfect weekend, and we need to score points. It's difficult, we know, because the first six teams are of course more performing than ourselves, but we think that we can fight to at least score one point during the next Grand Prix, and this is the target.
Making a follow-up to your answer, are you surprised that McLaren made a big step forward?
I'm not surprised because I know the quality of the people working there. When I was managing Stoffel Vandoorne, I've been two years with McLaren and I remember very well [Peter] Prodromou, who is now the head of aerodynamics there, the quality of these guys. I know Andrea Stella is such a competent and good person, able to lead the team. McLaren has always been a top team, so maybe it was a surprise not to see McLaren in these positions in the last few years. So, I think that McLaren, as has been Aston Martin in the first part of the year, should be for us a benchmark and the best example that if we work well, hold together, we can do a step. Formula 1 sometimes seems really big, the steps that you have to do, but if you find marginal gains in each area, in this condition, with this competition, this can really mean gaining three, four, five positions on the grid.
Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas remain with the team; Theo Pourchaire will again be a reserve and test driver. Don't you think the system doesn't work if Theo and drivers like Felipe Drugovich sit on the bench and don't have much chance of a place in Formula One, even if they have won the F2 championship?
Of course, Formula 1 for rookies is very difficult now because, as you know, the level is extremely high. We have many experienced drivers, but still young, really talented, and of course for a team, sometimes it's a risk to have a rookie. Especially when you have a change of regulations, it's better to have drivers that have experience in order to support the team in the car development. But we need to find a way to create more testing opportunities for the young drivers. The problem is not the value of the junior category. Formula 3 and Formula 2 are the very best platform to prepare the driver, but then, if you remember in the past, drivers like Lewis Hamilton, before joining the grid, they had the chance to perform 10 000 to 12 000 km [in a F1 car]. Now, testing sessions are really restricted. For us, we don't have a 2-year-old car to do private testing sessions and so to prepare the driver. So, for us, what is important is to secure our drivers, the best option, and we think that Theo is a very good driver and a good prospect for us, and then to see if we can give him more mileage in order to be better prepared. Of course, we have seen with Piastri, he won the Formula 2, then he spent one year of testing, and then he joined the team. I think that this is now the best path for a young driver without the possibility to have in-season testing in Formula 1. Theo remains our reserve driver. Cross the fingers for him because we think that he deserves to win the Formula 2 title this year, and of course we will have him in Mexico City in the first of the two FP1 sessions that he will perform with us this season.
Don't you think that something should change about the rookies? Maybe think about adding a third car like we had in the past?
The third car is extremely difficult and of course we need always to remember that the sustainable business model is crucial not only for the team but for all the F1 stakeholders. To run the third car, this will trigger plenty of costs and also, with the current race calendar already with 24 races, the current size of the race team is really on the limit. So, for us, I think that we need to think of another way to grant mileage to the rookies, not the third car.
Officially, you are a team representative, and you are involved in some meetings with the team principals, so you are inside everything. If you only could, what would you like to change? Don't you think that teams could be more cooperative and inclusive for the betterment of the sport, like in IndyCar or Formula E?
I think that Formula 1 in the last 4–5 years represents the benchmark for any motorsport category. What we have seen during the pandemic, I think, is the best example of the way all the teams, together with the FIA and the commercial rights' holder, have cooperated to save the sport. In 2021, we have been able to keep a full race calendar, going to new venues, taking risks. At the same time, we have introduced financial regulations. We decided to postpone, for instance, the introduction of the 2021 regulation to 2022 to have a cost saving. So, I think that we have shown that we can work well together, and this spirit of cooperation is always there in our team principals' meetings. Of course, everybody is looking at the interest of his own team, but always within the framework of the F1 community. This is something that has been more evident in the past 3–4 years, and this is also the merit of the FIA, and I would like to say more than this from the commercial rights holder and Stefano Domenicali that is I would say the leader that Formula 1 needs to do the next step.
Speaking of Stefano Domenicali - do you think Stefano's selection as F1 boss was the right decision because he was a man from inside F1?
First of all, Stefano was not only the team principal at Ferrari, because after this period he has been the chairman and CEO of Lamborghini. He had a huge experience within the sport and within the automotive industry. Of course, Formula 1 has always been the pillar of the technology and the best testing bench for the automotive sector. We need to keep this balance; we need to take care of the sport, but also, we need to take care of the needs of the automotive sector. And we are going in this direction with the introduction in 2026 of the 100% sustainable fuel with our sustainability strategy that Liberty Media, together with the team, is implementing. And I think that Stefano, with all the experience and background in both sectors, is the right person to lead this project.
Now talking about you: your list of achievements is very long. You were a journalist, team principal of a GP2 team, lawyer, manager, now a team representative in F1 and many more. Which of those jobs were the most challenging and why?
I think that every job has its own challenge. I don't think that there is a different level of jobs. What is different is your level of commitment and the passion that you put into everything you do. And for me I always put everything I have in anything I have done. Then it's not for me to speak about achievements. For me, this has been a step in my professional career, but I'm always keen to look at the future. So, for me it's important what will be the next, but everything that I have done has been thanks to the incredible people that I've been working with. Like now, I'm the team representative. This correctly means that I represent a group of people. So, it's not about myself, but it's about teamwork, and it's about putting everyone in the best condition to work, and I hope, and this is my target for this season, that everybody at Sauber will be happy with the way I represent them because I'm proud to represent this group of people everywhere in the world.
Is it true that you wanted to fight with the Italian mafia?
This was not just my dream. It was the driver of my decision to become a lawyer. In 1992, I was 18 years old. I was at secondary school, at the college and I had to decide what to do and which university. And of course, for me I have always this sense of justice. And those episodes that are described in this article touched me so much that my goal was to become a judge and go and fight against the mafia because I wanted to have this justice that become the rule, not just a single episode. And for me, this was the driver and everything I have done after has been based on this foundation. I always remember that I'm a lawyer, but I'm a lawyer not because of my title. I'm a lawyer inside me, the way I approach life, the way I approach work, try to become very rational and try to be a structure as a person.
In 2016, you decided to set up your own management company, and you worked with several drivers, including Robert Kubica and Stoffel Vandoorne. How was it to work with Robert, and why did your ways part?
First of all, it was one of the best and most intense periods of my life to work with Robert. When we met, Robert stopped in rally that year and so I think that only thinking about coming back to Formula 1 seems to be impossible. But we have been working hard together to reach this target and dream, but this was not because of me but because Robert was one of the most determined, one of the most talented people and such a strong character. Everything he has done and the comeback to Formula 1, I think, is because of all the effort, all the sacrifices, everything that he has done to come back. I've been there to support him, I've been there to discuss with him and take the best decision about the team, about the partners and everything. So, Robert will always have a special place. For me, why we part ways? For a very simple reason. Because then Robert joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team and so I cannot be in a conflictual position, so for a conflict of interest, we discussed and agreed with Robert to part ways. To not be any more partners in our job, but to remain friends. It was a natural evolution and I think it was the right one because at the same time also Orlen that was always supporting Robert in the previous year, became co-titled partner of the team so there were good reasons to keep separate all our positions.
Have you ever been to Poland?
I've always been in Poland with Robert when we had events, when we were there at the very beginning to start discussing with the first partners. I remember with Lotos that was instrumental for Robert coming back to Formula 1 as a reserve driver of Williams. I've been there for holidays and there are such nice places, not just Warsaw but also Kraków that is an amazing place and of course I love art. Kraków is amazing. There is one of the important paintings by Caravaggio, it's such a nice place. I like Poland, and it's been always good to come over to Poland and to have this mix of working with Robert but at the same time enjoying your beautiful cities.
When Alfa Romeo came to F1, almost everyone was happy that such a significant piece of the Italian car industry was coming back to F1. After a year of that romance, you have plenty of sponsors, more people are working in the team, the team is more successful. Do you feel that you have achieved something special?
I think that Alfa Romeo has helped us to achieve such an important target as a team because it has been instrumental for the growth of Sauber from 2017 onwards. I think that time when I joined, Sauber had no sponsor and the agreement with Alfa Romeo and Ferrari at the same time gave us credibility and the opportunity to present to our partners, to the drivers, to everybody a long-term project in Formula 1. So, Alfa Romeo has been instrumental for Sauber in achieving those targets. But at the same time, I think that we have established in Formula 1 a different business model for a car manufacturer to be here. Alfa Romeo, we granted to them the chassis name and at the same time, I think that we developed a lot of off-track activities and as a Sauber Technologies, our engineering company, we have developed for Alfa Romeo really nice projects for road cars like the GTA and GTAm acting as a real R&D pole for them. I think that this partnership has been successful both on track and off track for both parties.
You worked with Nicolas Todt and Fred Vasseur for a long time. How helpful was to know each other, and now working on your own?
Each experience, like in normal life, is important and helps to build what you are. And of course, the opportunity to work with Nicolas Todt for more than 6 years and then with Fred Vasseur for another 6 years has been really helpful for me. They are completely different characters, of course, but both gave me a lot and helped me to become what I am now. Both of them I remember with great pleasure, and I think that we are still good friends. Formula 1 is a small world and the possibility to still work with people that you have enjoyed, that you have joined is always nice and helps us to do a better job.
Is it true that Fred is very calm, as Charles Leclers has said recently?
Fred is a very rational person, and I think that we have always tried in every moment of our path together at Sauber to not be emotional in any decision. I remember very well the first day we joined, we took the decision to stop with Honda, the engine supply agreement, and with McLaren, the supply agreement for the gearbox and to go with Ferrari. We always try not to take rational decisions and to do this of course you need to have a cold approach, but this doesn't mean that we don't have a passion or when things are not going in the right direction, we remain calm. But when you take a decision, you must be calm, and you must assess the pros and cons of everything you want to do.
Soon you will become an Audi factory team. Do you think that Andreas Seidl is the right person tasked with preparing the team for this shift?
For me, it was a no-brainer decision when Fred went to Ferrari, together with our shareholder we discussed what would be the best option and also together with Audi as a shareholder. I think that Andreas has all the characteristics to be the leader of this very important project that we see Sauber Group to become the strategic partner of Audi and to be the works team of Audi as of 2026. He has a huge experience also in large corporations, not only in Formula 1 teams, like Porsche where he spent 9 successful years winning Le Mans. He has been a team principal at McLaren, that of course, is a team that at this moment is in a higher position than us, so he had strong knowledge and of course the fact that he has been within the Volkswagen Audi Group with Porsche for many years is also important for us to have a proper relationship and also to correctly manage the dynamics between the team and of course the car manufacturer. For me, it is the best choice and of course he is working really hard on a daily basis to do this transformation process that we see Sauber to become in two years the Audi team.
I wanted to ask about Valtteri because when I spoke to him last year during pre-season testing, he told me that he feels more alive now. Do you see the same thing, that he is someone else?
We have a chance to have a really nice person within the team and both him and Zhou [Guanyu], they are nice guys. Of course, we try to give them the very best environment to express themselves and to extract the maximum from themselves. There is no one solution or one approach with drivers. And I think that for Valtteri the possibility to be free to express himself has been important to have the confidence of the team, but of course he is fully focused. When we need to say things, we are hard and strong with him as with any other driver, but we can work well together in a nice environment and giving him the freedom out of the race weekend to enjoy life. For me, what is important is that when we are here or at the factory, we are all fully committed, and we work together for the common target and Valtteri is of course giving a strong contribution to our team.
Aren't you scared when you see him riding his bike?
I am always scared when I see him riding. We know that bikes are a very good training, but of course can be risky, can be dangerous, and I had the experience because I was managing Pastor Maldonado. He was my driver really in GP2 with Trident in 2007, and he had an accident with a bike. He broke the collarbone, and we missed more than half of the season, and we were fighting for the top three positions at that time. So I know that it is a risk, but of course also for the drivers, you know, it is a good way to prepare himself, to train. He loves that, and I think that if we take out bikes from Valtteri we will lose Valtteri, you know. He knows how to manage, he knows how to prepare himself, so there is no issue for me.
I know you like old cars and old racing styles and that in 2022 you took a part in Mille Miglia race. How was it and do you want to do more races like this?
Yes, Mille Miglia for me was the best experience in my life. I am used to saying, you know, not considering my family, my wife and my son because I really had the opportunity to enjoy one week without thinking about work, driving a race car of 50s and to see all the passionate from Italy all around the routes, but when will be the next? Will be next week! Because next week I will be taking part in the Rally Legend together with a friend, Mauro. He was always my employer for many years with M-Technology, and we were in the World Touring Car Championship with Alfa Romeo. So we will do the Rally Legend with the Lancia Stratos, an amazing car, and we will be together. If I have the opportunity, of course, this is a passion for me, but my job remains my absolute priority.
How many old cars do you have?
None. I have friends with nice old cars. I am a simple person, so I don't have super cars, cars or whatever, but I would say the most important things that I have in life are friends and this help me also sometimes to enjoy special things or special moments.
Thank you so much, it was a big pleasure to speak with you.
My pleasure.
