Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2023 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2023 Formula 1 Standings
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Penalty Points
    • 2024 Formula 1 Driver Line-Up
  • Formula E
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • 2022/23 Formula E Team/Driver Line-up
  • IndyCar
    • 2023 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2023 IndyCar Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2023 WRC Calendar
    • 2023 WRC Standings
    • 2023 WRC Driver Line-up
  • MotoGP
    • 2023 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2023 MotoGP Team/Rider Line-Up
    • 2023 MotoGP Standings
  • WEC
    • 2023 WEC Calendar
    • 2023 WEC Hypercar Team/Driver Line-up
  • More
    • IMSA
      • 2023 IMSA GTP Team/Driver Line-up
      • 2023 IMSA Calendar
    • Formula 2
      • 2023 Formula 2 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 2 Driver Line-up
    • Formula 3
      • 2023 Formula 3 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 3 Driver Line-up
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
LIVE
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2023 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2023 Formula 1 Standings
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Penalty Points
    • 2024 Formula 1 Driver Line-Up
  • Formula E
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • 2022/23 Formula E Team/Driver Line-up
  • IndyCar
    • 2023 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2023 IndyCar Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2023 WRC Calendar
    • 2023 WRC Standings
    • 2023 WRC Driver Line-up
  • MotoGP
    • 2023 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2023 MotoGP Team/Rider Line-Up
    • 2023 MotoGP Standings
  • WEC
    • 2023 WEC Calendar
    • 2023 WEC Hypercar Team/Driver Line-up
  • More
    • IMSA
      • 2023 IMSA GTP Team/Driver Line-up
      • 2023 IMSA Calendar
    • Formula 2
      • 2023 Formula 2 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 2 Driver Line-up
    • Formula 3
      • 2023 Formula 3 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 3 Driver Line-up
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Szafnauer: No grudge against Aston Martin or McLaren over driver losses

by Taylor Powling
3 months ago
A A
0
Szafnauer: No grudge against Aston Martin or McLaren over driver losses
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has refuted suggestions he might hold a grudge against Aston Martin and McLaren for poaching Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri respectively away from the team last year.

With Esteban Ocon tied down to a contract through the end of 2024, Alpine was initially left with a conundrum of who should fill its remaining seat between Piastri and Fernando Alonso.  

But when Alonso confirmed he would be heading to Aston Martin, the Enstone outfit was stung further by the revelation that Piastri had also been negotiating a switch to McLaren.

Suddenly left without a driver to partner Ocon for 2023, Alpine then pursued Pierre Gasly and was eventually successful in prizing him away from AlphaTauri on a long-term deal.

RelatedPosts

Imola trophies to be auctioned off for Emilia Romagna relief fund

Imola trophies to be auctioned off for Emilia Romagna relief fund

24 mins ago
Sainz suggests splitting ‘dangerous’ Monaco Q1 session into groups

Sainz suggests splitting ‘dangerous’ Monaco Q1 session into groups

57 mins ago

Asked at the launch of Alpine’s 2023 car, the A523, whether he now had an added incentive to stay ahead of Aston Martin and McLaren, Szafnauer argued: “I want to beat them all.

“What I want to do is focus on the things that we can control. What we control is the development of our car, both powertrain as well as aerodynamic development.

“Let’s do the best job we can and see what happens. But I don’t think we focus on beating one or two teams. We’ve got to try to beat all of them.”

After departing Alpine in rather belligerent circumstances, Alonso took the opportunity recently to issue a slight dig at his former employer’s lack of ambition by arguing only ending up fourth would not constitute success for Aston Martin’s long-term aspirations.

However, Szafnauer has hit back at the two-time champion’s remarks by countering that Alonso was one of the individuals who celebrated Alpine’s achievement of overhauling McLaren the most.

“I think when we did finish fourth; if you look back, he was as happy as everybody else who was part of the team,” Szafnauer snapped back.

“When the year before you’re fifth and your ambition is to move up to fourth, it’s not easy to do. We had to beat McLaren. I’ve been to Woking, and you walk by, and they have a massive trophy cabinet, so they’re not easy to beat.

“So I think you have to celebrate those successes when you say, look, I want to be top four, I want to be fourth not fifth. I don’t think it’s shameful to say, ‘we’ve done it and let’s celebrate’.

Following on from securing the highest midfield berth in the standings last season, Szafnauer, who is now the fifth longest-serving team principal on the current grid, has outlined the changes made at Enstone and Viry over the winter as Alpine aims to reduce the gap to the top three.

“For us, next year, if we can get much closer to third than we were this year, I’ll celebrate that too. If we’re closer and the gap isn’t that big, that means we’re making progress to where we want to go.

“This year, we have a more competitive car and the teams at both factories in Viry and Enstone have worked well to improve the overall reliability; something which did let us down at times last season.

“We continue to grow our workforce and I see a real spark of team spirit here and a high level of motivation from everyone to push this team forwards. Time will tell on where we stand in the championship order,” he pondered.

Tags: AlpineAstonMartinF1McLarenSzafnauer
Share471Tweet294

Related Posts

Imola trophies to be auctioned off for Emilia Romagna relief fund
Formula 1

Imola trophies to be auctioned off for Emilia Romagna relief fund

24 mins ago
Sainz suggests splitting ‘dangerous’ Monaco Q1 session into groups
Formula 1

Sainz suggests splitting ‘dangerous’ Monaco Q1 session into groups

57 mins ago
Hamilton was ‘hopeful’ Alonso would take Monaco pole
Formula 1

Hamilton was ‘hopeful’ Alonso would take Monaco pole

13 hours ago
Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular Articles

Aston Martin and Honda set to announce 2026 F1 deal – report
Formula 1

Aston Martin and Honda set to announce 2026 F1 deal – report

May 23, 2023
Ferrari reportedly preparing huge F1 contract offer for Hamilton
Formula 1

Ferrari reportedly preparing huge F1 contract offer for Hamilton

May 22, 2023

Upcoming Races

#EventLocationDate
6Emilia Romagna GPImola21 May
7Monaco GPMonte Carlo28 May
8Spanish GPBarcelona04 June
9Canadian GPMontreal18 June
10Austrian GPSpielberg02 July

Click here for the full 2023 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Max Verstappen119
Sergio Perez105
Fernando Alonso75
Lewis Hamilton56
Carlos Sainz44
George Russell40
Charles Leclerc34
Lance Stroll27
Lando Norris10
Pierre Gasly8

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Follow Motorsport Week

Motorsport Week

© 2023 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • Championship Standings
    • 2023 F1 Calendar
    • Team/Driver Line-Up
    • Session Results
    • Driver Penalty Points
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • Session Results
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
    • Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • WSeries
    • DTM
    • IMSA
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
X