F1 great Anderson slams Alpine & Renault bosses for 'thinking they know everything'

Alpine

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F1 great SLAMS Alpine bosses for 'thinking they know everything'

Renault and Alpine have copped it from renowned F1 designer Gary Anderson

Jay Winter

Saturday 5 August 2023 14:57

Renowned Formula 1 car designer, Gary Anderson, has slammed the leaders at Renault and its rebranded team, Alpine, calling out the French team directors for "thinking they know everything".

Drawing parallels with his own experiences at Jaguar, Anderson laments the repercussions of car manufacturers asserting control in F1.

Alpine's unexpected announcement of the departure of team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend has left the paddock stunned.

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For Gary Anderson, the sudden developments at Alpine have triggered a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of his own experiences at Stewart Grand Prix when it was taken over by Ford and rebranded as Jaguar.

"For me, there was a sense of deja vu," wrote the Brit on The Race.

"I have been there and suffered the consequences of the actions of a car manufacturer when Ford took over Stewart Grand Prix and named it Jaguar.

"It is exactly the same set of circumstances. Ford bought the team and renamed it Jaguar as part of its marketing of what it was positioning as a high-performance car company. Today, we have a team that is owned by Renault, which is using the same marketing ploy by calling it Alpine.

"The managers of these car companies come in and think they know everything immediately.

"Yes they might be good at their individual jobs in their own world, but F1 is completely different. That’s shown time and time again by situations like this."

Since Renault rebranded to Alpine in 2016, the team still haven't quite hit their targets. After former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul revealed that over 15 key members were let go at the time, the Frenchman said the world of F1 underestimates how difficult it is to rebuild and snatch up talents from rival teams.

Alpine managing director Laurent Rossi has struggled to keep things positive for the team despite bringing on Ryan Reynolds as an investment partner

Szafnauer: These things take time

Szafnauer fully agrees, saying its impossible to rush development in F1, especially without the right people.

“The reality is that changes take time,” he said to Sky Germany.

“I signed some good people from other teams, but they are still stuck in their contracts and won’t come until 2024 or 2025.

“You can’t really push development if people aren’t there. It takes time for people to come and it takes time for people to work together correctly. I always say, you can’t get nine women pregnant and hope you have a baby in a month.”

The American-Romanian also spoke about his next "significant role" but was unable to confirm where it would be exactly.

"I cannot answer that right now," he said when asked where F1 will next see him. "Hopefully soon, in a significant role where I can also have an impact on a team.

"Where I can build a high-performing team and change the culture. Everything that I wanted to do at Alpine but the time there was too short."