In the round-up: Former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer says he never had the level of control he wanted with the team.
In brief
Szafnauer felt misled over lack of control at Alpine
Otmar Szafnauer, the former team principal at Alpine until he was removed by the team before the summer break in 2023, says he did not receive the level of power in the team that he had expected when stepping into the role.
“There’s a few things that went wrong at Alpine, one of which was I didn’t have control over the entire team,” Szafnauer told High Performance. “So for example, and I knew straight away: [human resources] didn’t report to me, reported up through France; The finance office didn’t report to me, reported up through France; The communications department didn’t report to me and the marketing group, commercial, didn’t report to me. And that in itself I knew was going to be problematic.
“Before I took the job, it was ‘everyone’s reporting to me’. I get there and that’s not the case. And I knew at the beginning – I thought I could manage it, but I knew it’s just problematic.”
Szafnauer defended his tenure in charge of the team, pointing out they are in a worse situation now. “I don’t know where they are today – ninth or something in the championship – today it’s a disaster. Back then, yeah, it’s a half-step back, but sometimes you take a half-step back to take two steps forward.”IndyCar announces new Texas street race
IndyCar has announced a new street race which will take place in Arlington, Texas in March 2026. The event is being organised in conjunction with the Texas Rangers baseball team and REV Entertainment. The layout of the 14-turn, 4.69 kilometre track is due to be revealed today, and will pass by the Rangers’ stadium as well as that of the Dallas Cowboys American football team. IndyCar’s 17-round 2025 calendar features four street races.
Six F3 drivers confirmed for 2025
McLaren junior driver Brando Badoer, stand-in driver Noah Stromstead and GB3 race winner Gerrard Xie are among the new names announced to be joining next year’s F3 championship on a full time basis.
Badoer, son of former F1 driver Luca, is currently competing in the Formula Regional European Championship taking seven podium finishes from 18 starts including five second-places. He will race with Prema next season in the F3 championship, while Stromstead has secured a full time drive with Trident and Xie will race with Hitech, who he raced with in GB3 this season.
Marti and Chambers get Formula E test
F1 Academy racers Nerea Marti and Chloe Chambers have been handed the opportunity to test with the Andretti Formula E team in the series’ women’s test in Valencia next month.
“Getting behind the wheel of a Formula E car is an incredible opportunity,” said Marti. “Formula E represents the future of racing, and I’m going to soak up every moment and learn as much as I can from the experience.
“It’s very special that the test is taking place in Valencia, my hometown. Circuit Ricardo Tormo is where I got my first taste of racing, so I have some very special memories there. I’m focused on making the most of every lap and showing the Andretti Formula E team what I can do.”
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Links
Unpacking Oscar’s reputation as one of F1’s calmest characters (McLaren)
''Some people need a bit of riling up and stuff like that to really get the most out of themselves. For me, staying calm is very important. I think it's how I make my best decisions with a clear mind. It's very easy to become distracted from things that go wrong on or off the track because you’ve got a lot of tension on you and a lot of people saying things. It would be very, very easy to become distracted, so focusing on what is important by being mentally strong, and having good self-confidence and self-belief helps.''
Ticket pressure for Australian Grand Prix (Auto Action)
Travis Auld: ''We had 100,000 people in the queue when we went on sale, and Ticketmaster says that’s pretty much unprecedented demand. This year, we sold out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so the focus is now in terms of growing attendance on Thursday. We want to approach it in a couple of ways. We are talking with Supercars about how we can make that better on Thursday and we’re also introducing a concert on a Thursday night.''
Vanwall: ''Time running out'' to be granted 2025 entry (Sportscar 365)
Colin Kolles: ''My personal assessment is that the decision (to deny Vanwall an entry in 2024) was wrong. Isotta Fraschini is already gone and certain others are struggling. So far we haven’t been told yes or no. We can field two cars, but time is running out. We want to be welcomed. But it’s their decision. It’s not dependent on us. We have a Plan A and B, but in both plans the car will be racing.''
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
George visits Brixworth 😁
A great opportunity to touch base with the Team behind our power units and answer their questions ahead of the last six races of 2024 👊 pic.twitter.com/gRwwxoC6uj
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) October 7, 2024
It’s great to have you on board, Brando! 👊 https://t.co/mec1gYxkjE pic.twitter.com/IGRDJSmeKU
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 7, 2024
Final week at the factory 👊 Entering week three of the break 🔧#HaasF1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/cdTIkpdLJn
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) October 7, 2024
Completed it!
Gravel WC done ✔️
It was hard as expected! With the huge amount of people attending, queueing up for the single track sections in the beginning, and having to fix a puncture 5km before the finish, I was well happy with my day on the bike otherwise 😊
Thank you… pic.twitter.com/3CC2LPgsWV
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) October 6, 2024
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Comment of the day
With the continuing exodus of talent from Red Bull’s technical staff, Gerrit does not believe the world champions cannot find suitable replacements…
The biggest problem with building a strong team like Red Bull is that it’s very strength becomes the biggest weakness. In a strong team there is no great desire, or need felt, in long term succession planning or people development. After all you have Adrian Newey, so why train or develop a replacement?
But; as sure as eggs are eggs, people are going to leave or be enticed away. A team must at all times be developing back up team members or have an active recruitment policy to stay strong.
In football parlance, Red Bull are like Manchester United. Never developed a management structure or player recruitment policy, after the great Scot retired, to encompass change. Other teams stay on top by always recruiting and developing managers or players that complement the team. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, etc. are in constant flux bringing in new players to keep incumbents on their toes.
Maybe Horner is a very good manager in regards of keeping the flow of people (except drivers it would seem) coming through the organisation. He has to push the old ones out to keep fresh talent coming through. Sometimes that works in a drip feed manner, sometimes it comes (in this instant at Red Bull) as a tidal wave.
The secret is recruitment and development but more importantly, maintaining a high degree of enthusiasm and commitment in the staff you want to keep for now. Not an easy balance compounded by a fractured management structure where Horner does not seem to be in charge of all facets of the team.
Yes, Verstappen may well leave Red Bull, but there sure are able replacements to recruit. No one team member is irreplaceable, not even Horner or Verstappen.
Gerrit
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Rob Tsintas!
On this day in motorsport
- 35 years ago today Rick Mears won the CART IndyCar season finale at Laguna Seca but had already lost the championship to Emerson Fittipaldi
Tristan
8th October 2024, 1:10
Hard disagree. I’d almost go so far as to say every member of a team is irreplaceable. Every time a team member is replaced the team is no longer the same team. Let alone someone like a Horner or Verstappen.
The teams name stays the same but the fabric of a team is so much more than its name. Some people are more integral to a team than other sure, if a janitor leaves it’s unlikely to have an impact on performance, obviously. But to say that the team is still the same team without Horner and Verstappen…. It’s not right, that would alter the teams significantly and potentially irreparably.
It’s unbelievable that the staff members leaving are part of usual turnover. There is so much silence around one particular topic that it’s defeaning. To my ears at least.
Dex
8th October 2024, 2:10
That’s the unavoidable reality, for all sorts of reasons. We call them teams, but these are companies (even drivers are just employees).
That’s why I’m not a fan of any F1 team in particular. I find that kind of fandom to be a bit naive, not in a bad way; sometimes I wish I could get emotionally invested like that. But what would I feel connected to exactly? This doesn’t make me entirely neutral, but for me it’s more about a specific narrative (I.e. Alonso winning a 3rd title would be something great to see, and I didn’t even like him back on the day).
All I have is love and appreciation for the sport, which is not unconditional. I wish we still passion project teams, like real Williams or Mclaren, good old Minardi, Jordan… Teams with identity are gone forever.
Jay
8th October 2024, 3:04
Well said. I root for good races, not a particular driver or team. Although I do have fondness for a couple drivers and teams, it won’t spoil my enjoyment of the race if they perform poorly. Fanatics of teams/drivers are kind of strange to me. I’m a fanatic of F1 in general!
Nick T.
8th October 2024, 3:31
It’s hard to care if you’re not invested in any driver or team, especially since F1 is such an inferior series when it comes to exciting wheel-to-wheel racing versus other series.
Jay
8th October 2024, 7:07
I’ve cared since the 90’s. To each his own I guess. I bring the same philosophy to MotoGP and Dakar, the only other racing series’ that I watch. Boring when Vettel and Hamilton were winning everything? Maybe to some, but I still found the other battles interesting. I’d continue to watch F1 if my least favourite driver was winning everything. How do I know? Because it’s happened!
I don’t really care about ‘growing’ the sport, or marketing, or financials or anything like that. Monaco’s always one of the most boring races of the year but I’ll never miss one.
Gerrit
8th October 2024, 6:14
You are misconstruing the irreplaceable aspect of a team. For example if one member is hit by the proverbial bus, does the team collapse? No for the team (if managed correctly) will have overlapping responsibilities within members and a new batch of recruits trained up to fill vacancies. A team is not a permanent entity. It is always in a state of flux and rebirth.
Back to football comparisons and my favourite team Arsenal. With Odegaard injured other team members step in and fulfill his role. The team has been built to cope with people away for any reason. There are occasions in any team when the incumbent is not available due to leave, injury, lack of form, loss of form, etc. Quite often the replacement may turn out to be better and the the incumbent may have difficulty getting back into playing for or previously held position within the team.
Same with Newey or even Verstappen leaving Red Bull, in a well managed team there are replacements in the pipeline. An opportunity arises for other team members to step up.
When Senna left McLaren it opened the door for Hakkinan to be the number one driver. Clever succession planning.
Tristan
9th October 2024, 0:05
I don’t see the football team comparison working for F1 though.
These are purely commercial teams, you don’t see a football team changing their name to Visa CashApp. Someone in F1 definitely can leave the team and it can end a team, the rights get sold on, effectively turning it into a new team. As was the case of Minardi, Force India, Toyota, Renault… Sure the entry continues but F1 teams to me are not like Football teams at all.
Football teams have that passionate base that usually stem from a location which the locals will cheer. The only team really in F1 that comes close to that is Ferrari.
MichaelN
8th October 2024, 16:58
Agree with the disagree.
It reminds me of a quote from the HBO series John Adams. In it, Benjamin Franklin announces he will leave France to return to the USA so he can attend the constitutional convention. He suggests “Mr. Jefferson will replace me quite well, I’m sure.” to which Thomas Jefferson responds by saying: “I merely succeed you, Dr. Franklin. No one can replace you.”
Some people are certainly replaceable. Others not so much. The second category is much rarer, to be sure, but so are winners of titles. Ask anyone at McLaren if they miss Martin Whitmarsh, and you’ll likely get a few courteous nods and people saying he did a decent enough job. But ask someone at Ferrari if they miss Jean Todt – and the mere expressions people have will be enough of an answer. That’s being irreplaceable.
An Sionnach
8th October 2024, 2:40
Good on you, Oscar. I like your no-nonsense, calm approach.
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
8th October 2024, 4:35
that interview was great
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
8th October 2024, 4:41
Otmar really is a man of the people.
Mooa42
8th October 2024, 6:13
Certainly seemed like the drivers weren’t reporting to him either ;)
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
8th October 2024, 16:40
The drivers were probably promised more power than they’re getting…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th October 2024, 18:36
They almost certainly reported to France, as Otmar likely worked out when he discovered HR and commercial didn’t either.
notagrumpyfan
8th October 2024, 7:39
HR and Finance reporting to the group is very normal in a larger organisation, and (especially for Finance) strongly preferred and shouldn’t cause any problems. The Head of the subsidiary normally has a dotted line to these functions in some kind of matrix structure.
I’m not surprised that Marketing, Commercial, and PR didn’t report into him either. Otmar was hired to focus on the technical parts, and it should’ve been a big relief that he didn’t have to spend time luring sponsors or decide on picking the colour of the car (which was probably the best thing Alpine did while he was there).
Otmar simply didn’t deliver (quick) enough.
Arhn (@arhn)
8th October 2024, 9:39
Unless you were the one who negotiated his contract, I don’t see how you know that he was hired to focus on technical parts, when he specifically tells that Alpine promised him that everyone would report to him.
notagrumpyfan
8th October 2024, 13:12
Why should I have negotiated his contract, if I simply read the official announcements back in 2022. He wasn’t appointed CEO or even MD, but as TP.
I guess he didn’t read it, or (more likely) is looking for excuses.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th October 2024, 18:47
Context: The team principal (TP) at Team Silverstone (Otmar’s previous team) did have everyone reporting to him until Lawrence Stroll arrived. Vijay Mallya preferred the hands-off approach because he had a bunch of businesses (followed by a big legal case) to manage, and also wanted time at home having fun. So he delegated nearly everything to the TP. The two previous owners knew they didn’t have enough knowledge of motorsport to have any business doing anything more than owning and marketing the team, and so delegated pretty much everything beyond basic marketing to the TP. And before that, Eddie Jordan was the team founder and had his name over the door, so obviously everyone reported to him.
Otmar left Aston Martin because he didn’t feel he had enough control any more. In retrospect, he might even have been ready to try the team principal post at Williams, which actually does work the way Otmar’s used to team principal posts working. Of course, Alpine didn’t realise this and assumed Otmar wanted a corporate TP post, and and unsteady corporate TP post at that.
Otmar and Alpine both read the announcements, they just interpreted them spectacularly differently. To their respective regret.
Tristan
8th October 2024, 22:32
Did you listen to the podcast or are you just judging based off one extracted quite?
Tristan
8th October 2024, 22:32
Quote*
anon
8th October 2024, 17:07
@arhn it is not unreasonable to ask the question of whether it is typical for a team principal to expect those individuals to report to them though, and whether Szafnauer had people reporting to him on those activities when he was a team principal elsewhere.
For example, if you look at Sauber, the finance department and commercial departments do not report to the team principal – instead, they report to Sauber’s CEO. Similarly, I believe that the Aston Martin team also now operates a similar structure, although it’s not entirely clear if that was the case whilst Szafnauer was there when it was Force India or Racing Point, or if it’s a change that has come about after the takeover by the Stroll family.
It’s not to say that it doesn’t happen, as a few teams are structured in that way – it looks like the finance department does report to the team principal at Haas, for example. However, it certainly seems to be fairly common for the team principal’s role to be focussed more towards directing technical and trackside operations, with HR, commercial/marketing and financial operations reporting to a CEO instead.
It does also raise the question of what information Szafnauer may have had about the planned restructuring of the Alpine team – it’s worth remembering that he joined as the team was being restructured, and that does appear to have included plans to change the responsibilities of the senior team roles, including that of team principal.
It’s not entirely clear what the original lines of reporting were in the past but, as of the start of this year, we know that the activities Szafnauer lists report to two chief operating officers (COO’s) (one in Viry and one in Enstone), and from there up to the CEO.
Tristan
8th October 2024, 10:03
It was a good podcast and I really recommend listening to it for the full context. It sounds like he was really given a hard time at Alpine, and he’s not the first high performing person I’ve heard say that if you want to succeed with any commercial team endeavor like this, you need to be in control of the enterprise you’re undertaking.
ludewig
9th October 2024, 21:33
His narrative has huge holes though. I find it hard to imagine that the contract doesn’t specify his level of power. But similar to the Piastry situation, he seems to assume things (like a contract being signed with Piastry) without making sure that it is actually true.
His very job is to ask the right questions, but he doesn’t seem that good at it.
SteveP
8th October 2024, 10:06
Otmar was, unfortunately, in the position of hoping and wishing that the turkeys would vote for Christmas.
There were heads that rolled between then and now, and sadly, each time the axe swung it was one of the turkeys wielding it, rather than being on the receiving end.
The team lost a 2 x WDC, and one of the most promising talents of recent seasons in the same season and Otmar wasn’t the person responsible for that paperwork.
Alex Peak
8th October 2024, 17:08
Point the finger of blame at Laurent Rossi and Luca De Meo.
SteveP
8th October 2024, 18:50
They were right up top of the list.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
8th October 2024, 17:11
Or alternatively he wasn’t given the time to deliver anything better or as it seems the power to be able to make some of the decisions that needed to be made.
It can take a few years to turn an F1 team around because you have to get the right people in place & also be able to hire people to help you do that. If you don’t have full control over the things you need to to be able to do that & if with a manufacturer team those above you clearly don’t have 100% interest in the team it’s going to be next to impossible to make quick changes & improvements.
And the fact that Alpine has basically had a convener belt of team principles & other top staff the past few years suggests that the issues go much deeper than who the team principle is.
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
8th October 2024, 8:12
‘What da hell is an IndyCar street race doin in Arlington Texas :D :D :D’
Sorry, I had to do it.
sbewers (@sbewers)
8th October 2024, 10:41
Christian Horner can definitely relate when it comes to Alpine promising more power than they deliver.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
8th October 2024, 19:45
Yeah, RBR got boned by Renault too.
Mayrton
8th October 2024, 11:34
Wow, that is an incredibly naive remark that says more about him than it says about Alpine.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
8th October 2024, 19:46
it’s the politically correct culture which encourages excuses.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
8th October 2024, 19:46
why ? … because it loves weakness.
Tristan
8th October 2024, 22:31
Has to be up there as one of the silliest things I’ve ever read, especially given the context