Things are not looking good lately for the Alpine. After CEO Laurent Rossi heavily criticized the team due to the results and performance in the first five races of the 2023 Formula 1 championship and a season start that fell short of expectations, Otmar Szafnauer’s position in Alpine seems to already be in jeopardy, with Mattia Binotto allegedly having been contacted by the French team to take over as team principal.
According to formu1a.uno, Alpine reportedly contacted the former Ferrari team principal to discuss his potential availability to join the team if Otmar Szafnauer were to leave prematurely.
The early-season results did not go down well with Laurent Rossi, CEO of the Enstone team, who has heavily attacked his own team, even accusing it of amateurism.
“The goal was and remains fourth place. This team has progressed over the last two years and is the same as last year, so I will not accept a result other than fourth place. Aston Martin has fewer engineers than us and no wind tunnel of their own. Resources cannot be an excuse. Creativity and efficiency at work make the difference.” – he pointed out.
“Otmar doesn’t do everything, but the responsibility is his. He was hired to achieve goals that we are not currently meeting. We started late compared to others and a difficult year looms ahead. I accept mistakes, but not when they are made twice. It means not learning from mistakes.” – Laurent Rossi explained.
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Expectations for the A523 were quite different ahead of the 2023 Formula One championship, after finishing an excellent 2022 season in fourth place and emerging as the winner in the battle with McLaren. This year, however, Aston Martin has been the true revelation of the grid. The British team is currently in third place in the constructors’ standings, having achieved four podiums in five races with Fernando Alonso.
The Miami weekend, however, highlighted an improvement from the team. A solid weekend for Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, both qualified for Q3 on Saturday and finished in the points on Sunday. This is also due in part to the new floor introduced in Baku, which began to show some positive results on the American circuit.
According to Formu1a.uno, however, Alpine’s offer was rejected by Mattia Binotto at this moment. For this reason, the team could turn to Eric Boullier, former team principal of Renault. The Frenchman knows the team well and remains the most popular option at the moment if Otmar Szafnauer were to be shown the door prematurely.
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