Alpine has appointed Otmar Szafnauer as its new team principal as part of a broader management restructure.
Alpine has named Otmar Szafnauer as its new team principal for 2022, following the completion of a management review that followed months of instability at the top level of the French outfit.
Prior to his departure as team principal of Aston Martin at the start of the year, Szafnauer had been said to be considering a move to the French marque.
Szafnauer had been Aston Martin’s team boss since 2009, when the company was known as Force India and Racing Point, but he left at the end of 2021.
Since the retirement of Cyril Abiteboul in early 2021, Alpine has been without a de facto team leader, with Marcin Budkowski taking over day-to-day operations. Budkowski, on the other hand, left at the end of the season.
Szafnauer will now be in charge of the team, reporting to Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, and Luca de Meo, CEO of Groupe Renault.
“I am thrilled to join BWT Alpine F1 Team and ready to get to work with everyone to achieve our challenge… bring the team to fight for the championship within the next 100 races,” Szafnauer said on his new appointment.
“My attention is focused on preparing for the start of the season in Bahrain. As one of the three car manufacturers involved in Formula 1, Alpine is fully armed to achieve its ambition; now let’s get to work!”
Alpine has also appointed Bruno Famin as Executive Director of Alpine Racing at their Viry-Chatillon facility.
Famin will be in charge of continuing the development of the Renault F1 engines, working closely with Technical Director Matt Harman on improving the power unit and chassis integration.
After years as the FIA’s Deputy Sport Secretary-General, Famin is returning to the competitive side of F1. He had previously worked with Peugeot’s endurance team. During his 15 years with Peugeot, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2009 and had 24 victories from 32 entries.
“It’s great to be back in competition, and even greater to join Alpine, with such ambition and unique engineering capacities,” said Famin.
“Viry-Chatillon is among the greatest factories one could dream of; I can’t wait to join its amazing talents, and to work closely with the teams in Enstone, Dieppe and Boulogne-Billancourt.”
