Alfa Romeo began its involvement in motorsport shortly after its founding. A.L.F.A. entered racing in 1911, with drivers competing in the Targa Florio. The marque achieved its first significant success in 1913 with a second-place finish in the Parma-Poggio Berceto race. Giuseppe Merosi designed an advanced racing car in 1914 named "Grand Prix". In 1920, Giuseppe Campari secured a win at Mugello, while Enzo Ferrari finished second in the Targa Florio in the same year. Giuseppe Campari repeated his Mugello victory the following year. Ugo Sivocci won the 1923 Targa Florio, with Antonio Ascari taking second place, both driving an RL. Sivocci's car featured the green cloverleaf emblem that would become associated with Alfa's sportiest models.
In 1923, Vittorio Jano joined Alfa Romeo from FIAT and designed engines that brought the marque racing success into the late 1930s. Alfa Romeo achieved victory in the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925, winning the European Grand Prix at Spa and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The sensational P3, designed by Jano in 1932, achieved its first win driven by Tazio Nuvolari at the Italian Grand Prix and secured five more Grands Prix that year. Despite Alfa Romeo becoming insolvent in 1933 and its operations transferring to Scuderia Ferrari, the P3 continued to win races, including the Italian and Spanish Grand Prix. In 1934, Louis Chiron won the French Grand Prix, though the P3 began to lose ground to the dominant German Silver Arrows. Nevertheless, the P3 still managed to secure some Grand Prix wins. By 1935, the P3 was outclassed by the Silver Arrows, but Tazio Nuvolari achieved a memorable victory at the 1935 German Grand Prix.
Tazio Nuvolari famously won the 1930 Mille Miglia in a 6C 1750, overtaking Achille Varzi in the final kilometers. Alfa Romeo cars dominated the Targa Florio in the 1930s, winning six consecutive times, and also won the Mille Miglia every year from 1928 to 1938, with the exception of 1931. The 8C 2300 secured victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours from 1931 to 1934. In 1938, Clemente Biondetti won the Mille Miglia in an 8C 2900B Corto Spider, and he would later win the first post-war Mille Miglia in 1947 with another 8C 2900B.
Alfa Romeo competed in Formula One as both a constructor and engine supplier from 1950 to 1987. The works Alfa Romeo team dominated the first two seasons of the Formula One World Championship with the 158/159 Alfetta but withdrew at the end of 1951. During the 1960s, minor teams utilized Alfa Romeo straight-four engines. In the early 1970s, a V8 Alfa Romeo engine powered McLaren and March cars. The Brabham team used Alfa Romeo engines from 1976 to 1979, preceding Alfa Romeo's return as a constructor from 1979 to 1985. Alfa Romeo also supplied engines to the Osella team from 1983 to 1987. A deal to supply engines to Ligier for the 1987 season was canceled when Fiat took control of Alfa Romeo. In November 2017, Sauber entered into a partnership with Alfa Romeo, becoming the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team for the 2018 season. For the 2019 season, the team competed as Alfa Romeo Racing. Alfa Romeo ended its partnership with Sauber at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Alfa Romeo has also supplied engines for Formula Three cars, achieving significant success. In Europe, Alfa Romeo won five FIA European Formula 3 Championships and five FIA European Formula 3 Cups, along with numerous national championships. Notable victories include Piercarlo Ghinzani's 1979 Italian Formula Three Championship win and Michele Alboreto's 1980 FIA European Formula 3 Championship victory. The adoption of the Twin Spark engine in 1987 contributed to this success. In South America, Alfa Romeo secured multiple Formula 3 Sudamericana titles and various national championships. From 2019 to 2020, a Tatuus T-318 powered by an Alfa Romeo engine was used in Formula Regional championships.
Following the success of the Trofeo Alfasud one-make series, Alfa Romeo launched the Formula Alfa Boxer racing car in 1987. Amato Ferrari won the inaugural championship, followed by Mirko Savoldi and Alessandro Zampedri in subsequent years. In 1990, a more powerful Quadrifoglio Verde engine replaced the original. A European Championship, Formula Boxer Europe, was introduced in 1992. The final Formula Alfa Boxer season took place in 1995.
Alfa Romeo participated in the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1989 to 1991, utilizing a turbocharged V8 engine. In the 1989 season, the engine was paired with a March chassis. The following season saw an improvement in results with a best finish of 5th place. The team switched to a Lola chassis in its final year, with Danny Sullivan driving and finishing 11th in the points standings. Alfa Romeo concluded its Indy Car project without achieving a podium, pole position, or race win.
Alfa Romeo cars have been utilized in rallying, primarily by private teams. In the 1950s, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta achieved victories in events like the Tour de Corse and the 1000 Lakes Rally, as well as the Alpine Rally. The Giulietta SZ, Giulia TZ, and GTA continued this success in the Alpine Rally under the management of Autodelta. Racing versions of the Alfetta GT and GTV were developed by Autodelta in the 1970s for homologation under FIA Group 2, achieving moderate success in rallies. The Alfetta GTV Turbodelta, homologated in FIA Group 4, also saw rally campaigning. In 1986, the Alfa Romeo GTV6 was a competitive Group A rally car, though it was reclassified as Group B. The GTV6 achieved a 3rd place finish at the 1986 Tour de Corse and won the Australian Rally Championship in 1987, becoming the last rear-wheel drive car to do so.
Autodelta, Alfa Romeo's racing department, was established in 1963 to manage the sportscar program. Competing with the Alfa Romeo TZ, the team achieved notable wins in its class. In 1967, Autodelta designed a new V8 engine for their sportscar, ultimately developing a flat-12 engine for the Alfa Romeo 33TT12. These cars raced in the World Sportscar Championship from 1967 to 1977, with Alfa Romeo winning the World Championship for Makes in 1975 and the World Championship for Sports Cars in 1977. A Group C prototype, codenamed SE 048SP, was developed in the early 1990s but never raced.
Alfa Romeo has secured numerous touring car titles since the 1960s. The Alfa Romeo GTA won the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) in 1966, 1967, and 1969, with the GTAm winning further titles in 1970, 1971, and 1972. The GTA also won the Sports Car Club of America's Under 2 Liter Trans-Am championship in 1966 and repeated this in 1970. The Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 achieved four consecutive European Touring Car Championship titles between 1982 and 1985. The British Touring Car Championship was won by an Alfetta GTV6 in 1983 and by an Alfa Romeo 155 in 1994. Nicola Larini won the 1993 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) series with an Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti, setting a record for championship race wins in a season. The Alfa Romeo 156 went on to win the European Touring Car Championship four times consecutively from 2000 to 2003. From 2007 to 2009, Alfa Romeo cars won in Eco Diesel categories of the Bathurst 12 Hour race. In recent years, various drivers and teams have competed with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta in TCR Touring Car series worldwide. Tecnodom Sport also utilized the Alfa Romeo MiTo in the Italian Touring Car Championship.
Alfa Romeo has achieved the following major trophies and championships:
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