F1 News: Alpine's Ousted Team Principal Explains His Side Of The Story - "I Was Doing A Good Job"
Former Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has opened up about his exit from the Enstone-based team last year, indicating that he was satisfied with his performance. However, differences arose between him and the management due to their eagerness for immediate success rather than following his planned trajectory.
Sporting Director Alan Permane also left the team around the same time during the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix weekend. The announcement came amid a challenging season for Alpine, as they struggled to maintain their position in the Formula 1 hierarchy compared to the previous year.
Szafnauer, who became part of Alpine in 2022, disclosed that the team opted for decisions aimed at immediate benefits, diverging from the strategic changes he had recommended to enhance the team's advancement.
Revealing his side of the story after several months, Szafnauer told MotorSport Magazine:
“This may sound egotistical but I believe I was doing a good job at Alpine and that I was making the right changes.
“I have seen new team leaders make changes for the sake of change, they want to show the owners that they are doing something, making changes for the better.
“The problem is they often don’t understand the changes they’re making. When you walk into a situation like Alpine you first have to get a deep understanding of what you have, what’s good, and what needs changing, but you cannot do that overnight.”
The 59-year-old former team boss explained that a lack of patience from Alpine's owners resulted in his exit. He added:
“Alpine’s senior bosses wanted success faster than was possible. I told them what was possible, and they said they didn’t have time for that.
“It seems they don’t understand that it takes time to change a culture, to get new skill sets where we didn’t have them.
“They simply don’t have the technical ability they need.
“When I got there I told them they needed this stuff, and some new people. When you start recruiting you are lucky to get anyone within a year because of their multi-year contracts.
“And, of course, you need to offer them something they don’t have, like more responsibility.
“I told Alpine I was making progress but their response was always ‘we don’t have time for this.’
“That was the cause of our disagreement and I was given less than 10 days warning of their decision that led to my departure at the Belgian GP.”