10 September 2023 , 07:00
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Formula 1 teams are more stable these days than at any point in the sport's history – but Alpine seems to be doing its best to challenge that belief.
It's a team that is leaking talent. The axing of executive director Marcin Budkowski a little over 18 months ago began an exodus of some of the biggest names involved with the team in the time since.
Shortly after Budkowski's exit, F1 legend Alain Prost left. And he went out swinging – particularly in the direction of chief executive Laurent Rossi, who he accused of "jealousy" and claimed had a "desire to be alone".
Mid-way through last season, it started affecting drivers. Fernando Alonso, impatient after being made to wait for too long for a new contract, signed with Aston Martin. Alpine tried to promote rookie driver Oscar Piastri but, whoops... he too was sick of waiting and had already signed with McLaren – who won the legal battle which ensued.
Things went a little quiet until July this year, when it all kicked off again. Prost might have celebrated privately when he heard that Rossi was out as Alpine CEO, moved elsewhere in the company to manage "special projects", while Phillippe Krief was drafted in to replace him.
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And then Prost did it publicly, writing in his column for French sports newspaper L'Equipe. "Laurent Rossi is the finest example of the Dunning-Kruger effect – that of an incapable leader who thinks he can overcome his incompetence by his arrogance and his lack of humanity towards his troops," wrote the 68-year-old, adding that Rossi's management "broke" the team.
But that wasn't enough drama for the Enstone team. A week later, not after but during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, it announced that team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane were out – the latter after 34 years of service. Oh, and chief technical officer Pat Fry had handed in his notice and is off to Williams.
Alan Permane, left, was axed by Alpine along with team principal Otmar Szafnauer (Getty Images)It wasn't long after that axing in the Ardennes that it became clear that there was one common denominator throughout all this – the people ultimately calling the shots. That would be the Renault board, which owns and runs the Alpine brand as well as the F1 team, and its chief executive Luca de Meo.
He has been quiet about the departures of Szafnauer and Permane, but has now broken that silence. "They promised me things that were not kept," he said bluntly. "When you tell your boss something, then you have to do it – it's in the dynamics of a company.
"It seemed like a brutal action, and it was, but we are behind what we set ourselves as goals. Not that I forced them to set targets, but they set them themselves. They communicated them and this didn't work because we didn't have the right trajectory."
So that's the blame laid firmly at Szafnauer's feet. Alpine have been banging on about a "100-race plan" for a while now, by the end of which it said it wanted to be winning races and in championship contention. Although it's a nice bit of PR and something impressive to tell shareholders about, it remains to be seen whether there is any substance to it – or if it's achievable.
Alain Prost was scathing in his assessment of Alpine's current situation (PA)From what Szafnauer said after his exit, his belief is that it was not. And, he claimed, it was after he said that to the Renault board that the "definitely mutual" parting of ways occurred.
" I laid out the timelines as to how long it takes in F1 to effect change," he said. "You know, it's not a football team – it's only two drivers and 998 technicians, engineers and aerodynamicists, and to change a culture takes time. The timeline wasn't accepted by the bosses of Renault – they wanted it quicker and that's what we disagreed upon. So, yeah, mutual."
What happens now? Well, Alpine don't seem to be in a great hurry to appoint their next team principal. Vice-president of motorsport and head of the team's engine factory at Viry-Chatillon, Bruno Famin, is in temporary charge until the end of this season.
Spending several months without a permanent boss at the helm hints that there wasn't a great deal of thought or preparation put in by the Renault hierarchy before pulling the trigger on Szafnauer. And Famin admitted as much when he said there was "no plan" to axe the team principal – until they did.
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The man most closely linked with the job is Mattia Binotto. The Italian is on gardening leave after quitting as Ferrari boss at the end of last season but has been spotted in the F1 paddock on a couple of occasions over the past two months. He hasn't done any interviews, though, and there may be a clause in his exit agreement with the Scuderia which prevents him from doing so.
Binotto was arguably the victim of having to answer to an over-demanding board of directors at Ferrari, desperate in their desire to relive past glories. If he does sign up to take over at Alpine, he might be getting himself into a similar situation with Renault chiefs.
Mirror Sport has contacted Alpine for comment.