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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has no doubt F1 stalwart Alan Permane will not be out of work for long following his unceremonious exit from Alpine over the recent Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Despite 34 years of loyal service to the team from Enstone that has been through various name changes, with Permane a constant, his name or face might not be one of the most recognisable in the paddock.
Permane, however, is one of the most well-respected and knowledgeable characters in F1, earning the nickname ‘Bat’ during his formative years at Enstone due to the many hours he would put in behind the scenes.
Permane, along with Otmar Szafnauer who was ousted from his role as team principal on the Friday at Spa-Francorchamps, have been made the latest scapegoats for Alpine’s failure to make progress.
Asked by this writer as to his thoughts on the departures of Szafnauer and Permane, Horner was particularly glowing of the latter, highlighting his achievements he felt deserved greater respect than was shown by Alpine.
“Otmar has obviously been around for a little while and he’s always been very straightforward to deal with and has good knowledge of the business,” said Horner.
“For Alan, or ‘Bat’, as I think he’s better known in the pit lane, 34 years in any job is a truly remarkable achievement.
“To go from Benetton to Renault to whatever… Lotus, back to Renault to Alpine, he’s been one of the mainstays there.
“And obviously he’s been there through the world championship periods of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, so a hugely competent guy. I doubt he’s going to be unemployed for too long.
“But just hats off to what he’s done with that team, particularly, when you look at the difficult periods when they were looking at insolvency and the issues with shareholders and the transfer for all the team.
“That’s when the team needs clear guidance and leadership and mainstays, and I was particularly impressed at that point in time that he was a solid pillar.”
Wishing him the “best of luck … for the future”, Permane has already been linked with other teams, including Red Bull given he is good friends with that team’s own sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley.
Permane also has an ally inside the FIA in former colleague and now sporting director Steve Nielsen, whilst he is close to Mercedes technical director James Allison.
Like Horner, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was equally as complimentary of Permane’s ability and achievements.
Asked by Speedcafe about Permane’s exit and the possibility of recruiting him, Wolff said: “Alan is, how can I say, one of the rocks of Formula 1, one of the longest-standing senior engineers in the sport, and someone with a lot of knowledge.
“I don’t know about the ins and outs of the management reshuffle there [at Alpine], but there are a lot of very respectable and top people in there, and definitely you shouldn’t discount anyone of that seniority.”
