Szafnauer and Permane to leave Alpine amid shake-up

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane will leave Alpine by mutual agreement after the Belgian Grand Prix.

Szafnauer (pictured above) had come under increasing pressure following former Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi’s outburst at the Miami Grand Prix, saying the buck stopped with the team principal after a number of operational errors. At the time, it’s understood Rossi wanted to put Bruno Famin in place as team principal, and while Rossi has since been replaced by Philippe Krief, it has now been announced that Szafnauer is to depart following this weekend’s race and recently announced VP of Alpine motorsports Famin will take over the role on an interim basis.

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Alan Permane had spent 34 years at the team now known as Alpine. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Alpine, szafImages

Although Szafnauer was team principal and only joined Alpine at the start of 2022, perhaps more notable is the departure of Permane after 34 years at the Enstone, UK-based team. Famin explained the decision to part ways with both was due to a disagreement over the future direction of the team and the timeline in which to try and fight for victories and championships.

“I think with Otmar and with Alan it’s the same -- they’re great people, and we thank them for all we brought to the team,” Famin said. “For a very long time for Alan, 34 years in Enstone, and more recently with Otmar he achieved the fourth place in the championship last year which is a good achievement, but we were not on the same timeline... to reach the level of performance we are aiming for. Mutually we agreed to split our ways, and that’s it.”

Chief technical officer Pat Fry is also leaving Alpine to take up the same position at Williams, as the first major technical hire announced under James Vowles.

Alpine says current Alpine Academy director Julian Rouse has been named interim sporting director, with Matt Harman tasked with leading the technical team at Enstone.