Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has promised changes are in the pipeline in response to the recent criticism from CEO Laurent Rossi.
In two separate interviews across the Miami Grand Prix weekend, Rossi vented his frustration at the team’s performances this season which have resulted in it slipping to sixth in the constructors’ standings, scoring just 14 points from five races.
Speaking to Canal+, Rossi said what had been delivered so far was “disappointing” and “bad”, adding that “this year ended up starting with a flawed performance and flawed delivery.
“It’s obvious our position in the standings is not worthy of the resources we spend, and we are quite far – in fact very far – from this year’s end goal.
“I’m noting not only an obvious lack of performance and rigour in the delivery, but also potentially a state of mind that is not up to this team’s past standards”, suggesting further that what he saw in Bahrain and Azerbaijan was “amateurish”.
Additionally to Formula1.com, Rossi added the “buck stops with Otmar”, and that improving the team was his responsibility.
Szafnauer was left surprised by the comments, conceding he “didn’t have an idea beforehand” Rossi would be so vocal.
Remarkably, Szafnauer has confirmed in Monaco ahead of this weekend’s grand prix that he is yet to discuss the remarks with Rossi since then, although is due to do so at some stage.
Addressing the media, Szafnauer said: “Changes are in progress but it takes time. It’s a huge team effort.
“We have very talented engineers that are working really hard within the regulations.
“We’re capped on ATRs (aerodynamic testing restrictions), and we’re capped on how much time we can spend in the tunnel and CFD so it’s not a matter of working harder or working more than it was in the past.
“It’s not a matter of quantity, it’s a matter of quality, and getting the right quality takes time.
“We hit most of our targets, not all of them over the winter, and for us to hit all of them we have to make some changes within the organisation, and those changes are coming.
“We’ve got the plans in place, we’re talking to the right people. It just takes time.”
Szafnauer putting in place “countermeasures” at Alpine
Asked specifically by Speedcafe about Rossi’s comments directed personally towards him, and whether he felt under any added pressure, he replied: “I’ve been there just over a year now.
“I spent the first six, seven, eight months assessing deeply the team, the structure, how it operates, how it functions, the good, the bad, and the indifferent, and I’ve a good understanding.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years at a very senior level, and I know what it takes to move a team from last to fourth, or mid-grid to second, and the plans are in place.
“Added pressure? We put pressure on ourselves if we’re not winning, we all do.”
He added: “When we make mistakes, or team members make mistakes, we have to make sure we understand the root cause and put countermeasures in place so we never do them again.”
Compared to what he had grown accustomed to during his days at Force India where he had complete autonomy, Szafnauer appreciates the “structure (at Alpine) is a little bit different” from what he was once accustomed to.
Rossi operates as both the CEO of the Formula 1 team and the road car division but effectively has overall say.
Despite that, Szafnauer said: “From a technical perspective, we do make the decisions.
“We need to be able to put the tools in place, the right people in place in order for success, and we’re working on that.”
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