Alpine chief sacked with Szafnauer set for F1 return as new team emerges

15 January 2024 , 08:22

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Alan Permane left Alpine last summer with team principal Otmar Szafnauer (Image: Getty Images)

Formula 1 paddock veteran Alan Permane is set to return to the sport with a new team following his Alpine axing.

Permane worked for the Enstone-based team in is various guises for a total of 34 years. Most recently, he served as sporting director until he and team principal Otmar Szafnauer were ousted last summer.

They left the team after the Belgian Grand Prix, though their departure was bizarrely announced before the race weekend. It was described as a mutual decision at the time, but it later emerged that Szafnauer's exit was due to a disagreement with the Renault board regarding the realism of their long-term ambitions.

The shake-up also brought to an end Permane's long career with the team. But it seems his Alpine exit will not mean the end of his career in F1 as, according to Motorsport.com, he is set to return working for another outfit.

The report claims Permane is being tipped to join the team which, up until the end of last season, raced as AlphaTauri. Red Bull's sister team is due to undergo a rebrand before the new campaign begins.

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There has been no suggestion yet as to what role Permane will fill at the team. But he will be part of an extensively refreshed project, working with Peter Bayer who has been chief executive for a little over six months, while new team principal Laurent Mekies only started at the beginning of January.

It comes after Red Bull team boss Christian Horner heaped praise upon Permane after his Alpine exit. "Alan Permane is one of the rocks of F1. He is one of the longest standing senior engineers in the sport, and certainly someone with a lot of knowledge," he said.

"I don't know about the ins and outs of the management reshuffle [at Alpine], but there is a lot of very respectable people in there. And definitely, you shouldn't discount anyone of that seniority.

"Whilst I've never worked with Alan Permane, I think sometimes there has to be respect shown for somebody that's put in 34 years of hard graft and been involved in world championships with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. He has also been a steady hand during periods of that team going into administration, and out of administration, and into different ownership and so on.

"He's very much been a constant there during that period. I think that earns respect and recognition, and I'm sure he's a guy, like with Otmar, that won't find themselves out of work. It won't be the last you've seen of them in the pitlane, no doubt about that."

Daniel Moxon