Proving that Red Bull Racing isn’t the only Formula One team capable of making brutal, mid-season personnel changes, Alpine says that it has parted ways with Otmar Szafnauer, its F1 team principal, and Alan Permane, its sporting director.
The executives will be asked to finish out the weekend, as the underperforming team competes in the Belgian Grand Prix. After that, the role of team principal will be taken over by Bruno Famin, who was appointed as the vice president of Alpine Motorsport earlier this month.
Famin was complimentary about Szafnauer and Permane while speaking to media at the Spa Francorchamps, per ESPN. However, he said that they were “not on the same timeline to recover the level or to reach the level of performance we are aiming for.”
Read: Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney Among Investors Who Just Poured $218 Million Into Alpine F1 Team
The incoming team principal described the departures of the two executives as a “mutual” decision. The outfit is two thirds of the way through a 100-race plan to get back to fighting at the front of the grid, but Szafnauer told media that the Renault board (which owns Alpine) expected too much, too quickly.
“The thing that really changed is I had a timeline in mind for changing the team, making it better – that timeline, I thought it was realistic, because I know what it takes. I’ve done it before,” Szafnauer, who previously led the Aston Martin F1 team, said. “I think some of the senior management at Renault had a shorter timeline in mind.”
Meanwhile, Pat Fry, the Alpine F1 team’s chief technical officer, will also be leaving the team. However, his departure was announced with the news that he will take the same role with the Williams F1 team.
“I am thrilled to be joining Williams Racing as Chief Technical Officer,” said Fry in a statement. “The team has a rich heritage in Formula 1, and I am excited to contribute to its future success. I believe in the team’s potential and, together, we will strive for excellence on and off the track.”
These changes are just the latest in what has been a tumultuous period for Alpine. Following the news that it would sell a stake of its F1 team to a group of North American investors, including actor Ryan Reynolds, Alpine has been cleaning house. It announced on July 21 that it would part ways with its CEO, Laurent Rossi, after handing his motorsports responsibilities to Famin earlier in the month.
