Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal, Alpine F1 Team
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Formula 1 Opinion

Why 'football manager' approach to F1 team principals won't boost Alpine's form

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OPINION: Alpine has undergone yet more management upheaval, with Otmar Szafnauer given his marching orders during the Belgian GP weekend. It appears like a Formula 1 team in total disarray and its rotating door of team bosses is not furthering Alpine's cause. Perhaps the parent company needs to change total tact in its F1 approach

Let's play a game. Eric Boullier, Gerard Lopez, Frederic Vasseur, Cyril Abiteboul, Javi Gracia, Marcin Budkowski, Otmar Szafnauer, and Bruno Famin: which of those individuals hasn't assumed the team principal role at a certain Enstone-based Formula 1 team in the previous 10 years?

Yes, it's Javi Gracia, who was the Watford Football Club manager between January 2018 and September 2019 - and one of the longer-serving ones at that. There's some significance to his inclusion, rather than purely sliding a generic name into an extensive list of ex- and current team principals.

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