Szafnauer offers fresh take on "two popes" conundrum at Alpine
Szafnauer offers fresh take on "two popes" conundrum at Alpine
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes he and CEO Laurent Rossi are able to work together easily as "popes of separate churches".
Szafnauer joined the French manufacturer ahead of the recent F1 campaign after suddenly leaving Aston Martin, a team he had been in control of since its days as Force India.
In joining Alpine, Szafnauer had put his departure down to having 'two popes in the same church' in a slight aimed at the appointment of Martin Whitmarsh as Group CEO which, he felt, had undermined his position.
At the Enstone-based team, however, Szafnauer has Rossi in a similar role as the overarching CEO of the wider Alpine company.
But when asked how the pair had combined across the first season together, Szafnauer told select media including GPFans: "Working with Laurent is really easy because we're like popes of separate churches.
“His responsibilities are that he's the CEO of Alpine, the car company, and one of the pillars of the Alpine car company is a Formula 1 team, or one of the entities underneath him.
“I just report to him there. He's got all sorts of other direct reports to sell cars, design cars, manufacture cars, market the cars, all that stuff.
“It’s kind of like Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal] reporting to Ola Källenius [Mercedes-Benz CEO] .”
Additional reporting by Ewan Gale
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Red Bull chief admits interest in poaching TWO rival stars
- 12 minutes ago
Audi agree LONG-TERM F1 deal with star driver
- 57 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
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