Formula 1: Alpine Team Boss Expresses Disappointment Over Midseason Departure

• Alpine team principal is set to depart the French F1 team after the Belgian Grand Prix
• Otmar Szafnauer joined Alpine 18 months ago from Aston Martin
• The 58-year-old has been given the boot just 33 races after his appointment

Alpine F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer has been dismissed only 33 races into his tenure as the French Formula 1 team Principal.

The 58-year-old was relieved of his duties alongside Alpine’s sporting director Alan Permane.

The news of the Romanain-American engineer's dismissal came as a surprise to many given his clearly stated idea of their “100 race” plan to make the Enstone team a success.

Sadly, race number 34 at Spa would be his last race with the team.

Szafnauer though has not hidden his disappointment with the decision of the French team hierarchy.

Otmar Szafnauer expresses his disappointment

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Alpine Racing has definitely not had the best of starts to the 2023 Formula 1 season and their string of recent upgrades to the car have been marred by collisions on track which have had the team deal with two “did not finish” (DNF) in both Hungary and at Silverstone.

Szafnauer speaking about his sack said:

“The reality is that changes take time,” he told Sky Germany. “I signed some good people from other teams, but they are still stuck in their contracts and won’t come until 2024 or 2025.

“You can’t really push development if people aren’t there. It takes time for people to come and it takes time for people to work together correctly.

“I always say, you can’t get nine women pregnant and hope you have a baby in a month.”

Bruno Famin, Alpine’s vice president of motorsport and now interim team principal, appeared to share a difference of opinion in what needs doing,

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As quoted by Planet F1, he said:

“We were not on the same line, on the timeline to recover the level of performance we are aiming for. And mutually we agreed to split our ways. And that’s it.”

Following the big decision about Szafnauer’s future, the team has been linked with a move to sign former Ferrari team principal Matia Binotto.

Hamilton advised against joining Ferrari

In a previous report, Sports Brief stated that British Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton has been warned against making a possible switch to Italian Formula 1 constructor Ferrari.

According to Formula 1 analyst, Peter Windsor, a move to the Maranello would plunge the driver’s career into chaos.

Hamilton’s future at Mercedes has been up in the air with rumours that the driver is unhappy, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

With just five months left to go on his existing deal, many teams on the grid have been linked with the seven-time champion.