Former Alpine Formula 1 boss Otmar Szafnauer has accused the team of being “naïve” regarding its timeline for success after his tenure was cut short following 34 races.
Szafnauer was hired ahead of the 2022 season and guided Alpine to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship in his debut year at the helm under new technical rules.
Since returning to F1 in 2016, the Renault Group has consistently altered the expectation of when it will emerge as a side capable of winning races. However, the French marque has been unable to surpass fourth place and has only taken one victory.
Having operated on a five-year window, then-Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi pivoted upon a “100-race plan” when Szafnauer arrived to replace the outgoing Marcin Budkowski.
However, the ex-Aston Martin Team Principal was ousted after the Belgian Grand Prix in July last year amid the Enstone-based squad’s plight down to sixth in the standings.
But Szafnauer insists Alpine were heading in the right direction under his leadership and believes he wasn’t given the opportunity to reap the reward of the changes he’d instilled.
“I’m mainly disappointed that we had different timelines to become successful. I was given 100 races, which I thought would be enough, because at 25 races a season, 100 races is about four seasons,” Szafnauer told Peter Windsor in a YouTube interview.
“At 20 per season, it’s five [years]. So it’s between four and five seasons…
“I was there for 38 races (sic) and then the announcement came that we weren’t making progress fast enough and that they were doing things want to change.
“I know what it means to change the culture and performance of a Formula 1 team. It just takes time.
“It’s not just me saying that. Many others have also said that we are going in the right direction. There was a lot of praise internally and people said: ‘That’s great, we love your management style what you do’.”
“I think it was going in the right direction. The fact that the senior managers at Alpine wanted to achieve success much faster than was possible was what went wrong.”
Szafnauer, who admitted Alpine operated below the cost cap prior to his hiring, reveals he was in the process of welcoming recruits from rival outfits when he was removed.
“When I came [to Alpine], for example, there was no separate group for aero performance,” the 58-year-old disclosed.
“Larger teams have 20 to 25 employees who focus on aerodynamic performance view.”
“This is once again a separate group from the aero group. It’s almost like a driving dynamics group, but with a focus on aerodynamics. Alpine didn’t have that.
“When I left, I had hired new leadership for this group, separated it from the aerodynamics group and started hiring people for it.
He added: “We hired about 70 to 80 additional people in my year and a half there. We didn’t lay anyone off, we just hired new people.”
To enhance his point on the patience required to achieve results in F1, Szafnauer used the example of Aston Martin’s route to becoming an occasional podium contender.
Szafnauer, who had overseen the Silverstone squad’s evolution into Aston Martin in 2021, detailed how the team’s recent success originated from the moment Lawrence Stroll completed his takeover five years before.
“That didn’t happen within a year. It took time to bring in all these people. All of that happened in the background,” Szafnauer explained regarding Aston Martin’s progress.
“We have to remember that Lawrence bought the team in 2018 – and then in 2023 they had a fast car. That’s the time frame.
“To believe that you can do it in one or two years is naive. That’s simply not possible.”
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