How Alpine's no-nonsense boss is leading its ascent towards F1 success
Having quit Aston Martin because there were too many people in charge, Otmar Szafnauer moved to a role of undisputed authority at Alpine. But, as OLEG KARPOV discovered, the hot seat has proved to be an occasionally uncomfortable one, even for a leader of Szafnauer’s experience…
In early September, during an interview reflecting on Alpine’s particular difficulties at the time, the Renault-owned French car manufacturer’s boss Laurent Rossi said something about Otmar Szafnauer that caught many people’s attention.
Over the month and a half before that interview, the Alpine Formula 1 team had failed to secure the services of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for 2023, and was then rejected by its own protégé Oscar Piastri. The young Australian was lured away by McLaren, and Alpine’s attempts to protect its interests via the Contract Recognition Board proved an image disaster – not only was the eventual ruling not in its favour but the details of the case that had made their way into the press betrayed systemic failings in how the Enstone team’s legal department dealt with Piastri.
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