A traditional Formula 1 racing team in crisis

“I love this team and I am sad and saddened to see it in its current state,” said the four-time world champion, describing his feelings after the big bang at the French racing team shortly before the summer break. Alpine is replacing the entire sporting management for the second half of the season; the rather styleless separation of team boss Otmar Szafnauer and sports director Alan Permane irritated the paddock.

In the middle of day-to-day business at the Belgian Grand Prix, the team announced that it would be over for the two top officials after the guest appearance in Spa-Francorchamps. In the edition of the official Formula 1 podcast published shortly before, Szafnauer had assured that his job was secure despite the pretty messed up start to the season. Wrong thought. The bosses of Alpine and parent company Renault suddenly no longer believed in Szafnauer's timetable for success.

This impatience on the part of his superiors in turn drove the jovial 58-year-old to make a somewhat dubious comparison. “You can’t impregnate nine women and hope that you’ll become a father in a month,” said Szafnauer on Sky. The transformation into a winning team takes time; top personnel recruited elsewhere cannot be obtained until 2024 at the earliest. “You cannot speed up this process,” warned Szafnauer. However, the discovery of slowness cannot gain a majority in Formula 1.

Esteban Econ often doesn't cut a good figure. © APA/afp / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

Slipping to sixth place in the team ranking, which is crucial for the distribution of money, after fourth place last year and the accumulation of breakdowns, mistakes and accidents were too much for the top management. Alpine managing director Laurent Rossi lost his position in mid-July and was replaced by former Ferrari manager Philippe Krief. Former supervisory board member Prost described Rossi in a column for L'Equipe as an "incompetent manager who believes he can overcome his incompetence with his arrogance and lack of humanity towards his people."

The good old times Rossi had previously publicly criticized the Alpine crew around the rather colorless regular drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon as “amateurish” and denied them the necessary attitude. Long gone are the days when the team based in Enstone, UK, under the name Benetton, helped Michael Schumacher to his first two World Cup triumphs in 1994 and 1995. Under the Renault umbrella, two more titles were added in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso.

“The expectation is that we fight for victories and titles as quickly as possible,” repeated interim team boss Bruno Famin like a mantra in Spa. The problem: The Renault engine is significantly less powerful than the competitors' engines. Now Alpine is hoping for an exemption to spice up the engine despite the current development freeze. The fact that technical director Pat Fry is now leaving the team and moving to Williams seems all the more surprising.

“Chaos reigns in the Alpine team,” stated the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”. After all, the racing team recently collected fresh money. A group of investors led by Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds bought 200 percent of the shares in Alpine Racing for 24 million euros. The growing interest of powerful donors in Formula 1 could be a temptation for Renault. A complete sale due to lack of sporting success no longer seems to be out of the question.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Hockey

Tennis

Winter sports

Learn More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

A traditional Formula 1 racing team in crisis

The huge personnel earthquake in the reeling Alpine team gave Formula 1 legend Alain Prost a stab in the heart.

Comments (0)