Before World War II, Alfa Romeo was one of Grand Prix racing's dominant manufacturers. The P2 and P3 models achieved consistent victories until 1934, when German teams Mercedes and Auto Union introduced significantly more powerful machinery. Following the withdrawal of Enzo Ferrari's Scuderia Ferrari management arrangement in 1938, Alfa Corse regained direct control and produced the Alfa Romeo 158 — the Alfetta — for that season. After the war, Alfa continued racing the 158 at Grands Prix from 1946 to 1948, dominating the 1947 and 1948 seasons before a one-year absence in 1949 following the deaths of Jean-Pierre Wimille, Achille Varzi, and Carlo Felice Trossi.
When Formula One's World Championship launched in 1950, Alfa Romeo returned to competition with the 158 and its successor, the 159. Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural Drivers' Championship that year, and Juan Manuel Fangio claimed the 1951 title in the 159, which produced around 420 bhp but at enormous fuel cost — between 125 and 175 litres per 100 km. The team had contested both championships using only nine pre-war engine blocks. In 1952, with Ferrari now a strong rival and no government funding available for a replacement car, the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale withdrew the team from the sport.
During the 1960s, several minor Formula One teams ran independently developed Alfa Romeo straight-four engines in cars including the LDS Mk1 and Mk2, the Cooper T53, and the De Tomaso F1, none scoring a World Championship point. Alfa briefly supported factory driver Andrea de Adamich with a V8 derived from the Tipo 33/3 sports car engine in a McLaren in 1970 and a March in 1971, again without scoring points.
In 1976, engineer Carlo Chiti designed a flat-12 engine that had taken the 1975 World Sportscar Championship, and Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone persuaded Alfa to supply it free of charge. The engines produced a claimed 510 bhp against the Cosworth DFV's 465 bhp, but were heavier, consumed more fuel, and complicated chassis packaging. Despite these difficulties, Gordon Murray's designs around the unit became increasingly competitive. The Brabham BT46 won two races in 1978 — the Swedish and Italian Grands Prix — and the partnership delivered 14 podium finishes across the 1977 and 1978 seasons, including two victories for Niki Lauda.
Alfa Romeo's sporting department Autodelta returned as a constructor at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix with the Alfa Romeo 177. The Brabham relationship ended before the 1979 season concluded as Brabham returned to Cosworth power. The second works era was marked by unreliability and tragedy: Patrick Depailler was killed in a testing accident at the Hockenheimring ahead of the 1980 German Grand Prix. Bruno Giacomelli showed flashes of promise, achieving pole position at the 1980 United States Grand Prix and leading for 32 laps before a mechanical failure.
The team was restructured in 1982, with Euroracing taking over operations while Autodelta continued to supply engines. Andrea de Cesaris took pole at the 1982 United States Grand Prix West and finished third at Monaco. The 1983 season was the team's strongest, with the turbocharged 890T V8 engine earning sixth in the Constructors' Championship through two second-place finishes by de Cesaris. However, the 890T was highly fuel-hungry, a critical weakness once the FIA imposed a 220-litre fuel limit with no mid-race refuelling for 1984. Riccardo Patrese's third place at the 1984 Italian Grand Prix was the team's final podium. The 1985 car, the 185T, proved so uncompetitive that the 1984 184T was recalled and updated mid-season; Patrese later described the 185T as the worst car he ever raced. Alfa Romeo withdrew as a constructor at the end of 1985.
Osella used Alfa Romeo V8 turbo engines from 1984 to 1987, but after persistent poor results Alfa withdrew permission to use its name for 1988, with the engines rebadged as Osella units for that final turbo season.
Alfa Romeo branding reappeared on Scuderia Ferrari cars from 2015 to 2018. In November 2017, a multi-year commercial partnership was announced with the Sauber team, initially named Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team for 2018 with Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson driving. In February 2019, the team was renamed Alfa Romeo Racing with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi as drivers. Alfa Romeo had no technical involvement with the team, which ran customer Ferrari power units throughout.
Giovinazzi led four laps of the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix — the first Alfa Romeo driver to lead a lap since Andrea de Cesaris at the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix. The team's strongest result that season came at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Raikkonen and Giovinazzi finished fourth and fifth. Subsequent seasons yielded modest points hauls until 2022, when Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu steered the team to sixth in the Constructors' Championship, the partnership's best finish. A sponsorship deal with Stake was announced for 2023, rebadging the team as Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake. Alfa Romeo departed the sport at the end of 2023 to allow Sauber to transition to a works partnership with Audi from 2026.
Alfa Romeo's Formula One legacy rests on the 1950 and 1951 championships, which established the sport's first champions using machinery dating to the prewar era. The Brabham partnership of the late 1970s produced genuine race victories and helped shape chassis design philosophy during the ground-effect era. The Sauber commercial partnership, while largely without technical distinction, kept the brand visible in the sport's modern era.