Otmar Szafnauer has expressed sadness for the people he has left behind at Alpine following the closing of the latest chapter of his Formula 1 career.
In a dramatic day for the team on Friday of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, it was announced that Szafnauer would be departing from his role as team principal after just 18 months in charge.
Alpine also confirmed it was parting company with Alan Permane as its sporting director, despite 34 years’ service, whilst chief technical officer Pat Fry is also be leaving to take up the same position with Williams.
The decisions were the latest taken by senior Alpine management in what has been a turbulent period of transformation behind the scenes for the team, and which has effectively left no one with any senior F1 experience to guide it given the combined knowledge and experience of Szafnauer, Permane and Fry.
It was highly noticeable that Szafnauer departed on good terms, lining up behind one of the A523s with all of the mechanics prior to the start of the main race at Spa-Francorchamps.
“From everything the team said, they really enjoyed my 18 months with them,” said Szafnauer, speaking to Speedcafe before he departed the paddock to embark on 12 months’ gardening leave.
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“They saw some of the leadership skills that I bring, they appreciated what I did, how I treat people, how I’m respectful to them, how I motivate them, all those things.
“That means a lot to me. To be a decent human being goes a long way in life.
“So I’m sad for the good people that work here. I’m not sad for myself, or for anybody else, except for all the good people that work for Alpine.”
Whilst Szafnauer could not comment directly on his departure, given the non-disclosure agreement in place with Alpine, you sensed his words referenced how he and Permane had been treated, with the announcement made in the middle of a race weekend, and despite apparent assurances they would be allowed to see out Alpine’s 100-race plan to get to the front.
Szafnauer felt particularly saddened for Permane, one of F1’s most loyal servants, and with his knowledge of the sport second to none.
“Alan is one of the best in the pit lane, 34 years at the same place,” said Szafnauer.
“He and I, on the pit wall, worked well together. He knows quite a bit, and it was only at the margin I could give him help every once in a while.
“That left me free to have a look around at what was happening, and I helped, but Alan’s a true professional who really, really knows Formula 1 well.”
Szafnauer and Permane saw their jobs through to the end, at least overseeing an eighth-placed finish for Esteban Ocon as the Frenchman rose seven places to cross the line just one second behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Unable to resist offering his thoughts, Szafnauer said: “I look at it as every race, to see where we are in the pecking order, who we could have beaten, what we could have done a little better.
“Esteban, to come from 15th up to eighth, and he was one second behind Norris. As he said, if he’d had one more lap, he would have beaten Norris, so I look at those things.
“They (McLaren) have got, in their engine power, three-quarters of a second more than we do around here, and three-quarters of a second is 30 seconds up the road.
“He (Ocon) qualified in a different spot, so those are the things I look at, and who else he could have beaten.
“And this year has been an up-and-down year. Two races ago, at Silverstone, it looked like the McLarens were going to run away with it, and now we’re one second behind in a race where, with one more lap, we would have beaten them.
“So those are the things I look at, still, because it’s a conditioned response with me. That’s what I do.”
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