Szafnauer: Promised Power at Alpine F1 Never Materialized

Szafnauer: Alpine F1 promised me more authority than I actually had

Otmar Szafnauer reveals Alpine F1 never granted the authority he was promised, limiting his ability to manage the team effectively.

Former Alpine F1 team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, confirmed he never had the level of control he desired over the team.

Szafnauer, who served as director until his dismissal before the 2023 summer break, was constrained in his role by Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, as well as Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.

“There were some issues at Alpine, particularly the fact that I didn’t have full control over the team,” Szafnauer told High Performance when asked to confirm whether Rossi and de Meo had oversight on key decisions.

“For instance, and I knew this immediately: Human Resources didn’t report to me, they were managed from France; Finance didn’t report to me, it was controlled from France; Communications didn’t report to me, and Marketing and Commercial didn’t report to me either. And that, in itself, I knew was going to be a problem.”

“Before accepting the role, it was ‘everyone reports to me’. I arrived there, and that wasn’t the case. I knew it from the start… I thought I could manage it, but I knew it would be problematic.”

Szafnauer defended his tenure at the helm, emphasizing that the situation is worse today.

“I don’t know where they are now – ninth or something in the championship – today, it’s a disaster. Back then, yes, it was a half-step back, but sometimes you take a half-step back to take two steps forward. They dropped me when I was taking the first one.”

He acknowledged he was aware of the challenges he faced but believed he could turn the situation around.

“I couldn’t have predicted the future. I had a contract, and I wanted to do my best for the team. I always work hard, and I’m still as committed today. Yes, we were sixth in the championship, but we had a few podiums, we were regularly scoring points, it wasn’t a disaster – we were midfield.”

“Recruitment was underway, good people were coming in, and I was going to turn this team into a top-3 contender, which was our goal.”

“At the time, I was working with the FIA on equalizing power units. We were 25 horsepower down when the engine freeze occurred, and there’s an agreement among manufacturers that if someone is significantly down on power, they are allowed to catch up.”

“During my last meeting, which was the F1 Commission meeting in Belgium… I made a strong case for allowing Alpine’s power unit to catch up with the others. The other three were within one kilowatt of each other, and we were 15 kilowatts behind, which is 25 horsepower down, making it hard to compete. I was working on all these fronts to improve Alpine, and I kept pushing right up until my last day.”