Szafnauer HITS BACK at Alpine boss after performance ultimatum
Szafnauer HITS BACK at Alpine boss after performance ultimatum
Otmar Szafnauer has hit back at Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi's comments after the Frenchman handed the Alpine team principal an ultimatum following a disappointing start to the 2023 F1 season.
The French team left Miami sitting sixth in the standings, tied on points with long-term midfield rivals McLaren.
While both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon scored points at the Miami Grand Prix, the team remain unable to fight with the top four teams, leaving just a handful of points on offer each weekend.
Alpine finished the 2022 season in P4 in the constructor standings, so this step backwards in terms of performance has not gone down well with Rossi.
Rossi's fury
Speaking exclusively to Formula1.com, Rossi said: “He is responsible for the performance of the team – that’s his job. There is no hiding here.
"Otmar was brought in to steer the team, through the season and the next seasons towards the objectives that we have, which is to constantly make progress, as we did in the first two years – fifth and fourth – and to get to the podiums and therefore, this is his mission to turn this team around and bring it to the performance that we want."
Rossi reiterated how he sees Szafnauer as culpable for Alpine's step backwards in 2023.
“We had a team that performed reasonably well last year, got the fourth position which is the best improvement we had in a long time.
"It showed a lot of promise. It’s more or less the same people so I don’t accept that we are not capable of maintaining that.
"Yes, it is Otmar and the rest of his team as Otmar alone doesn’t do everything, but the buck stops with Otmar. It’s Otmar’s responsibility, yes.”
Szafnauer snaps back
Speaking with the media about Rossi's comments, Szafnauer said: “Reading something like that in the paper puts no more pressure on, everyone wants to do well here.
“They’re well-experienced technicians and engineers at the highest level, and we put pressure on ourselves so we just have to fix it.
When asked why Rossi made the comments, Szafnauer said: “I have no idea, you’ll have to ask him, but I’ll be asking him.
"This weekend was busy that I haven’t had a chance yet.”
READ MORE: Alonso throws SHADE at old team-mate with Aston Martin comparison
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Audi agree LONG-TERM F1 deal with star driver
- 38 minutes ago
FIA boss HITS OUT at 'court of public opinion' after interference allegations
- 1 hour ago
F1 News Today: Horner reveals Verstappen SECRET as team reveal surprise name change
- 3 hours ago
Ferrari announce DRASTIC change as Verstappen issues dire warning to bosses - GPFans F1 Recap
- Today 00:27
Hamilton sends strong message over Gaza deaths
- Yesterday 22:57
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
- Yesterday 21:57
Related news
F1 boss delivers team SALE verdict with new targets set
F1 pundit slams 'EMBARRASSING' team and predicts driver exodus
F1 team announce shock RESIGNATION of two key figures
F1 team boss issues BRUTAL put down for star driver
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860