Get to know what Otmar Szafnauer's salary is and what he is doing now?

Get to know what Otmar Szafnauer's salary is and what he is doing now?

Lenah Ann
May 8, 2024 at 6:42 AM

Otmar Szafnauer is one of the most famous F1 team principals who has worked with various teams on his way to stardom. Under his leadership, while working with Alpine F1, his team saw great success and was ranked among the best in the racing industry. So, what is Otmar Szafnauer's salary and net worth? Let us find out.

Otmar Szafnauer, Former Alpine Team Principal
Otmar Szafnauer, Former Alpine Team Principle on 7 April 2024. On the right, is him in the paddock on 29 February 2024. Photo: Michael Potts, Kym Illman. (Modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

Table of Сontents:

Although the renowned legend started his career as a manager, working with Ford, he made history when he became an F1 principal. Due to his outstanding accomplishments, he was inducted into the USF2000 Hall of Fame in 2013. Here is everything you need to know about Otmar Szafnauer, the former Alpine F1 Team principal.

Otmar Szafnauer's profile summary

Full name

Otmar Marin Szafnauer

Age

59 (as of May 2024)

Date of birth

13 August 1964

Place of birth

Semlac, Arad County, SR Romania

Nationality

Romanian, American

Ethnicity

White

Hair color

Grey

Relationship status

Married

Wife

Rebecca

Children

Clara, Olivia, and Fin

Education

Wayne State University, University of Detroit

Net worth

$5 million

Social media presence

Instagram

Otmar Szafnauer's salary and net worth

The renowned legend made most of his fortune as an engineer, manager, and F1 principal. According to The Sun, Otmar Szafnauer's Alpine salary was estimated to be $1 million per year.

On the other hand, as per Crash.Net, the former Alpine F1 team principal has a net worth of approximately $5 million as of April 2024.

Top 5 facts about Otmar Szafnauer
Top 5 facts about Otmar Szafnauer. Photo: Marco Canoniero. (Modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

Otmar Szafnauer's car collection

The former principal has quite a collection of lavish and flashy cars in his garage. His favourites are the Aston Martin Db11 and the Ferrari 488 Pista. Sleek and sophisticated is what can be used to describe his car collection.

Otmar Szafnauer's biography

The renowned F1 principal Otmar Szafnauer (age 59 as of April 2024) was born on 13 August 1964 in Semlac, Arad County, SR Romania, to an American father with German roots and a Romanian mother. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Detroit.

Since he has kept most details about himself private, little is known about his family. He attended Wayne State University and pursued a degree in Electrical Engineering, and later, he went to the University of Detroit to pursue a master's degree in business and finance.

Otmar Szafnauer's career

The former F1 principal made his career debut as Ford's program manager in 1986 in the United States of America. He attended Jim Russell Racing Driver School in 1991 and started to race for Ford Formula 1.

In 1998, he moved to British American Racing and was appointed the operations director. Upon his return to Formula One, he started working at Honda and became the Vice President of Honda Racing and a member of the Management Board of the Honda F1 team in 2001.

Otmar Szafnauer during an interview
Otmar Szafnauer during the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico on 27 October 2022. Photo: Gongora.
Source: Getty Images

He left Honda in 2008 and founded Soft Pauer, which was in charge of the official F1 timing and track positioning application on the iPhone, in June 2009.

In October 2009, the renowned F1 team principal started working at Force India and was responsible for the team's exemplary performance, which secured an agreement with them to use the Mercedes powertrain from the 2014 season going forward.

Otmar was present as Force India became Aston Martin in 2021, and left in January 2022. In February 2022, he started working at Alpine as the F1 team principal before leaving a year later.

What is Otmar Szafnauer doing now?

As of 2024, the former Alpine team principal is working on EventR, which he described as a ground-breaking digital itineraries system. With his technology already incorporated by various F1 teams, he looks forward to possibly returning to the big stage.

As per Motorsinside.com, Otmar has had talks with Andretti, a team looking forward to joining the Formula 1 grid. He has also taken the initiative to have a small dig into his previous French employer. He said,

Maybe I have too high an opinion of myself, but I still believe that I possess the necessary skills to build a good team and be competitive in F1. That is what I want to do. At the moment, I have the desire, but I am waiting because I cannot compete due to the provisions of my gardening leave. Hopefully, very soon, I will be able to return to sports. The problem is that I am a little impatient.

Otmar Szafnauer's wife

The former Alpine team principal is married to Rebecca Szafnauer, an accountant. The duo has three children: Fin, Clara, and Olivia.

Frequently asked questions

Most F1 principals are tasked with signing new drivers, overseeing management, and leading the team to success. Here are the frequently asked questions about the former Alpine F1 principal.

Otmar Szafnauer poses for a photo
Otmar Szafnauer poses for a photo during an event on 9 April 2022. Photo: Jakub Porzycki.
Source: Getty Images

What happened to Otmar Szafnauer?

According to FanNation, the famed principal left Alpine in 2023, claiming that his performance was satisfactory. However, some issues arose from the management, who wanted immediate success rather than following his plans.

Did Otmar Szafnauer race?

The renowned former F1 team principal raced in Formula 2000. Although his racing did not have a significant impact on his career, that did not affect his love for racing.

Is Otmar Szafnauer on Instagram?

The legendary F1 principal is a famous social media personality who has amassed over 105k followers on Instagram as of April 2024.

What is Otmar Szafnauer's nationality and ethnicity?

The famous engineer is a Romanian-American of a white ethnic background. His father is an American with German roots, and his mom is a Romanian.

Final word

Over the years, Otmar Szafnauer's salary and net worth have skyrocketed due to his various roles in the racing world. He has demonstrated his competence as a team principal while working at Alpine and Force India. Despite starting his career as a manager, he worked his way up, showcasing his hard work and determination in the racing world.

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Authors
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Lenah Ann
Lenah Ann is a Kenyan-based content creator with 2 years of experience. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Media and Communication from Dedan Kimathi, Kenya in 2021.