The glorious 1950s are far away and the trajectory of Alfa Romeo’s second stint in Formula 1 arguably didn’t deserve to end so soon, but such is the fate of great teams once they begin an irreversible decline. Other legendary names like BRM, Brabham, Lotus, and Tyrrell experienced similar downfalls, and Alfa Romeo was no exception. Following internal clashes within Alfa Rome, with then-president Ettore Massacesi who decided to dismantle Carlo Chiti’s Autodelta racing department and handed Alfa Romeo’s Formula 1 operations over to Gianpaolo Pavanello of Euroracing, 1985 saw the swan song of the Milanese manufacturer, marked by the disastrous Alfa Romeo 185T car.
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| ALFA ROMEO 185T, Eddie Cheever Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1985 |
Pavanello also dismissed the last remaining figure from the old Autodelta structure, Luigi Marmiroli. To develop the new car, he paired veteran designer Mario Tollentino with British engineer John Gentry, formerly technical director and designer for Shadow and ATS. Gentry’s work turned out to be a complete failure, resulting in a heavy and uncompetitive car. Powered by the same V8 890T Turbo engine coupled with an Alfa Romeo 6-speed gearbox based on a Hewland design, the 185T suffered from terrible balance due to the relocation of the radiators toward the front to allow for a more tapered rear section, a "bottle-neck" design that ultimately backfired.
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| ALFA ROMEO 185T, Riccardo Patrese Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985 |
In the first eight races of the season, italian driver Riccardo Patrese and american Eddie Cheever endured nothing but disappointment, plagued by retirements or back-of-the-pack finishes. Once again, the failure was blamed on the V8 890T Turbo engine, designed by the now-dismissed Carlo Chiti, and in 1985 managed via a new Bosch Motronic ECU.
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| ALFA ROMEO 185T, Eddie Cheever Estoril, Portuguese GP 1985 |
After repeated negative feedback from the drivers, Patrese even declared the 185T the worst car he had ever driven, and growing awareness of the car’s lack of competitiveness, Euroracing management decided to revert to the previous year’s 184T starting from the German Grand Prix. The older car was slightly revised at the rear to comply with the updated regulations. Nonetheless, results didn’t improve. Across the remaining nine races of the championship, the team collected 16 retirements and only two finishes: a ninth and an eleventh place.
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| ALFA ROMEO 184T, Riccardo Patrese Nürburgring, German GP 1985 |
The zero points tally in the Constructors’ Championship at season's end marked the definitive conclusion of Alfa Romeo’s second adventure in Formula 1. The 185TB project, already underway for the 1986 season, was abandoned for good. Meanwhile, sponsor Benetton decided to enter Formula 1 directly by taking over the Toleman team, which would be renamed Benetton Formula in 1986.
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