Alpine throw out entire management team and will start from scratch again

Yet another management change at Alpine/Renault means they will start from scratch once again. Something they've done a myriad of times since returning to F1. 'By mutual agreement', Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane have been let go, but the why and how is more interesting.

Renault's return to F1

Frederic Vasseur, Cyril Abiteboul, Nick Chester, Marcin Budkowski, Alain Prost, Alan Permane, Pat Fry and Otmar Szafnauer. These are just some names that have been sacked, 'left by mutual agreement' or simply left since Renault's return to F1 in 2016. Those names have done great things within F1 but left the French team without a great success.

Chaos is the common denominator detected within Renault/Alpine's F1 plan. Every year something is completely overturned. Be it the drivers, the team boss or the top technical people, someone has to lose out every year, and the whole story starts again from scratch.

With Vasseur at the helm, Renault started a new era in F1 in 2016. Of course, they wouldn't win immediately, but that is the end goal. Vasseur decided to leave after just one year after disagreements with Renault's management. Just like Kevin Magnussen, by the way, who never felt confident in the management and was happy to be gone.

That trend in terms of drivers continued for years. A year later, Jolyon Palmer was pushed aside for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard was also forced away a year later when Renault brought in Daniel Ricciardo as his replacement. Ricciardo beat Nico Hulkenberg comfortably, and so a year later, Hulkenberg made way for Esteban Ocon. Ricciardo left the following year because he saw more in McLaren's project than Renault's. Ocon lost the duel to Ricciardo and then lost to Fernando Alonso one year later, but the Frenchman received a long-term deal through 2024.

That deal would sit in Alpine's way when they wanted to extend with Fernando Alonso. They tried to offer Oscar Piastri a future seat (first a loan deal to Williams), but with Alonso's desire to sign a multi-year deal, they couldn't. Alonso left for Aston Martin, and in his wake, Piastri also left for McLaren. Piastri was reviled by Alpine, but, especially with McLaren performing so well, proved him wrong.

One team boss after another

As far as team bosses are concerned, the French racing team are acting similarly. Cyril Abiteboul took charge after Vasseur and set the pathway. However, the line of improvement stopped rising for a while in 2019, and it immediately caused turmoil internally. First technical director Nick Chester left (2019). A little over a year later, Abiteboul also had to pack his bags when the F1 team Renault became Alpine.

At a time when steadiness was important, Renault threw in a curveball for 2021. Laurent Rossi, as CEO, was breaking new ground and presented the 100-race plan. A plan to help Alpine return to winning races and titles. The plan looked suspiciously like Abiteboul's five-year plan, only presented by a different person.

Under Rossi, a remarkable structure was chosen. Marcin Budkowski and Davide Brivio shared the role of team boss. In fact, this structure does not last long. Budkowski left just a year later, along with advisor Prost who clashed with Alpine's management. Brivio is still involved with Alpine but more in a guiding role for drivers.

Budkowski was replaced by Otmar Szafnauer in early 2022. Together with Rossi, he hoped to make the 100-race plan work. Szafnauer inherited the car and structure of management before him, yet Alpine don't appear to see that. Indeed, a year and a half after his appointment, he, too, is out.

Why Szafnauer and Permane left Alpine

18 months after his appointment, Szafnauer leaves 'by mutual agreement'. Szafnauer said a week before this news in the Beyond the Grid podcast that he feels the full support of Luca de Meo, CEO of parent company Renault. That despite the arrival of Bruno Famin, he is in charge of the F1 team and is happy to sit out the 100-race plan. A week later, would he have changed his mind? No, De Meo and Famin simply had other plans. For example, Szafnauer told ESPN that the leadership expects Alpine to win before 2026. Szafnauer thought that, understandably, was too ambitious.

In addition to Szafnauer, Alan Permane is also leaving. The sporting director who had been involved with the team since 1989, then under the name Benetton. Pat Fry is also leaving; according to James Vowles, he chose to switch to Williams back in April.

If Bruno Famin had given away an impressive performance at the team bosses' press conference, which followed 15 minutes after Alpine's press release, everyone might have forgotten Szafnauer. The opposite was the case. The interim team boss did not make a good first impression. It had been decided that Szafnauer and Permane did not think the same about Alpine's way forward as the leadership team (Luca de Meo and Bruno Famin), so they parted ways. Yet Famin explained that phase two of the Alpine motorsport project would continue. Surely that seems hard to talk about when you see the team boss, technical director and sporting director leaving. Famin sat in the press conference, where he logically received a barrage of questions. He didn't give a satisfactory or inspiring answer to any of them.

Famin is the interim team boss, so the team will probably appoint someone else. Mattia Binotto's name is being mentioned as a possible successor to Szafnauer. The former Ferrari team boss is free and has a lot of experience with engines as an engineer. The Italian would undoubtedly be suitable to steer Alpine's engine project forward, but does it matter? Because one setback later, he too will have to abandon ship, and the Renault/Alpine management will change course once again.