Szafnauer on Alpine: “They wanted success as quickly as possible.”
A few weeks after his departure by the management of Alpine, Otmar Szafnauer explained what, according to him, caused the separation.
During the last Grand Prix weekend before the summer break, the news came like a thunderbolt and surprised everyone. Alpine was parting ways with its team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, as well as its sporting director, Alan Permane.
The first mentioned individual recently expressed himself in a podcast for American radio SiriusXM. The American-Romanian, bitter, explained that the leaders of the French team wanted instant success. But, it doesn’t work like that, declares a wounded Szafnauer. I told them that it takes time, and I think I can say that with my 26 years of experience in Formula 1. They wanted success faster than possible.
Problems with decision-making?
Alpine resorted to this reshuffle during the month of July, first thanking its CEO Laurent Rossi and replacing him with Philippe Krief, barely halfway through the season. But with a sixth place in the constructors’ championship and only one podium, the results were not as expected.
Otmar Szafnauer, who arrived last year with his experience at Aston Martin (at Force India since 2009), also criticized the way decisions are made within the French structure. Almost everything was not reported to me, but around me. The parent company wanted to have a lot of control in many areas of the racing team, more than I have ever seen. At Red Bull, all the commercial aspects and communication fall under Christian Horner. Guess who is going to win? Red Bull.
