Former Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer recently appeared on the High-Performance podcast, where he gave a detailed account of why the Enstone-based outfit was not a “good place to work” for him. One key reason he highlighted was the handling of the Oscar Piastri contract saga. Szafnauer revealed that, despite joining the team four months after the situation had unfolded, he was unfairly blamed for the fiasco, adding to his frustration with the team.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with not signing Oscar Piastri correctly,” he revealed. “That mistake was made in November. I started in March“. The Romanian-American then explained how his predecessors made the mistake and yet blamed him for it. He added,
“Alpine lost (the Contract Recognition Board Case) because the filings were incorrectly done. We put out a press release and the press release has my image on it. So, number one — nothing to do with me, I wasn’t even there. And number two — the communications department, that did not report to me, thought it was a good idea to deflect the incompetency of those that were Alpine at the time by putting my picture on the release“.
He concluded his remarks by stating that it just showed that there were people at the organization at the time that were “untrustworthy“. As a result of this entire fiasco, Alpine lost Piastri to McLaren.
Out tomorrow on High Performance….
Strong stuff from former F1 Boss Otmar Szafnauer…
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For Alpine, losing a talented driver like Piastri to McLaren was a significant blow. However, for Piastri, it proved to be the perfect move, as he has already secured two race wins with McLaren, who is the favorite to win the Constructors’ Championship.
Meanwhile, for Alpine, the situation has only deteriorated further, with the team continuing to face challenges both on and off the track.
Alpine finds themselves in disarray
It’s been over a year since Szafnauer stepped down as Alpine’s team principal, yet the team’s fortunes have continued to decline. Under his leadership, the French team managed to finish sixth in the Championship and scored 120 points. However, since his departure, Alpine’s struggles have only intensified, with internal issues and on-track performance continuing to hinder their progress.
This season, Alpine finds itself in ninth place in the standings with only 13 points. A key factor in the team’s downfall has been the mass exodus that occurred last year. Alongside Szafnauer, key figures such as former sporting directors Alan Permane and Davide Brivio, as well as Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, also resigned.
Shortly after, former Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi stepped down, leaving the team in further disarray. It appears Alpine has yet to successfully restructure and rebuild, continuing to struggle both operationally and on the track.
