Former Aston Martin and Alpine F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer has reflected on the existence of the two teams.
Szafnauer shared his thoughts on where he feels his two newest F1 teams are failing to challenge the smarter teams, with Alpine and Aston Martin struggling at the top of the midfield.
Having been concerned about Aston Martin’s transition as team principal from an underfunded Force India team, Szafnauer believes all the ingredients are now in position to allow the Silverstone-based team to take the plunge and challenge the established big teams – Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Appearing on James Allen’s F1 podcast, Szafnauer asked to give his opinion on how he sees Aston Martin performing: Szafnauer left Aston Martin in early 2022 to move to Alpine as Enstone team boss.
“Lawrence [Stroll] has prepared the infrastructure for them to be the most sensible team,” Szafnauer said of Aston Martin.
“They hired, and I was one of them, a group of smart people there. They have two intelligent drivers and I’ve worked with either of them: Lance [Stroll] and Fernando [Alonso].
“To explain why, I’m not that close to that, I expected their functionality on the track to be a little bit more than it is now. I think they were the sixth or seventh fastest team at Silverstone. “
“I expected them to fight for the three most sensible, or even the four most sensible. So there’s something or adrift. I don’t know what it is, you have to be close to perceive what it is.
Szafnauer has speculated on what he would do with Aston Martin’s management, but admitted he has no inside knowledge of the scenario under team boss Mike Krack as the team works to close the gap to the leading teams.
“Is it a smart position to work? Do you collaborate?” asked Szafnauer.
Do they take into account who understands the car as a whole and makes smart choices between trade-offs?The aerodynamics, the mechanics, the handling of the car, the drivers, all that kind of stuff.
“I don’t know, they deported me, I know what they did when I was there. “
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Moving on to Alpine, the team Szafnauer parted ways with a year ago when he and Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo no longer agreed on the team’s roadmap to success. Alpine effort, Szafnauer explained the path he had traveled before the division.
“Alpine is rebooting,” he said.
“It’s a shame that he didn’t have the opportunity to continue down the path he was taking. What he was doing there was convincing smart engineers and very smart talents, not at the highest point yet at the middle point, where the functionality, come and sign up for the team, due to the assignment we had.
Szafnauer gave some examples of what he had implemented during his tenure, but those measures ultimately did not work.
“A lot of them… I spoke, reputation-wise, with one of the most productive simulation engineers in the world. He applied to Apple when Apple had the idea that they were going to make a car and he returned to the UK. “We convinced him to come to Alpine and I heard he’s not going now,” he said.
“One of the most productive aerodynamic design guys in the world (I didn’t work with him, but given his reputation at Red Bull), I convinced him to come.
“A load limit architect that, if you do it smartly, allows you to unlock between five and 15 million in additional expenses. This additional expense on the margin is a natural return. That’s where it is spent.
“He was part of one of the competitive organizations and after lunches, dinners and coffees with him, I convinced him to sign up for the team. But then the financial director of the Renault organization told me when I was announced. .
“So all those other people, one, have now replaced their minds. And a lot of the smart people they had there are gone too. So it’s a bit of a reset.
“These restarts take time to get back to where you were before. Pat Fry was one of the first to go, followed by Matt Harmon and Dirk de Beer. Vehicle dynamics manager on the left, aerodynamics manager on the left. . . there are so many many.
“Two days ago I found out that the head of composite design has resigned, as well as the lead strategist. Therefore, other very senior people are leaving. And you will have to ask yourself why.
“What they don’t like is the team environment, the culture, whatever it is. In Formula 1, the higher your skill level, the less difficult it will be for you to find another job. “
“I say that the best go first. Therefore, you need to make sure that the team they work for and the team you lead is the most productive position for them so that they don’t want to leave.
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