Alpine's rigorous operation causes misunderstanding: 'Szafnauer proved that'

We will not seeOtmar Szafnauer back in the F1 paddock at Alpine after the summer break, and the same goes for sporting director Alan Permane and technical director Pat Fry, who is leaving for Williams. It was also announced earlier this month that CEO Laurent Rossi will be thanked for services rendered. Timo Glock makes little sense.

Departure Szafnauer not understood

Alpine is currently sixth in the world championship, having finished fourth last year. Still, Glock is surprised that the French formation has failed to attack the top teams. "It is really hard to understand why Alpine has failed to overtake the top three with the opportunities they have had in recent years. They have a good team around them and with Szafnauer they had someone who knows how to manage a team."

Alpine wants to win, and fast too. According to the former Formula One driver, Szafnauer, who only served as team boss from early 2022, has not been given the time to take the team forward. "That also has to do with, and he said this in our interview, the fact that the people he brought in are not allowed to work yet [because of the gardening leave]."

That Alpine announced on Friday afternoon that Szafnauer, Permane and Fry are leaving is also something Glock finds extraordinary. "It is hard to understand that he was sacked during a race weekend. That brings turmoil," the German analyst said in his column for Sky. "Szafnauer has often proved that he knows how to bring small teams forward and build big teams. We have also seen the work he has done going in the right direction and he did the same last season. Then there was also the turmoil caused by the changes of Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri. He was able to resolve that."

New people at the helm

Bruno Famin, the new vice-president of Alpine Motorsports, will assume the role of interim team boss from the Dutch Grand Prix. Current Alpine Academy director Julian Rouse will be appointed interim sports director. Szafnauer and Permane themselves have since also commented on their sudden departure.