Laurent Rossi, Alpine’s scapegoat, despite Otmar Szafnauer’s inefficiency in F1

Laurent Rossi has completed his time at Alpine. Appointed as Director of the Alpine brand (both on the Formula 1 and manufacturing sides) in 2021, he has been thanked for his work and will now focus on other projects within the Renault group. Philippe Krief, who was appointed Director of Engineering and Product Performance in March, will take over. Although Krief was part of the management committee, he was not directly involved with the F1 team, unlike Laurent Rossi, who was also responsible for the Enstone and Viry-Châtillon facilities.

A reshuffling that currently involves the Formula 1 team very little

The recent changes are mainly in the management part of the company, with the arrival of a new CEO to allow Alpine to step up. Laurent [Rossi] did a great job in starting the Alpine brand, and now the new CEO of Alpine must continue to take the brand to the next level, explained Otmar Szafnauer.

« We have a new Vice President for the Alpine brand, to whom the F1 team will now report. » explains the F1 team director.

Philippe Krief was the director of engineering at Ferrari during the past few years. He also worked at Michelin, Maserati, and FIAT throughout his career.

His new role should allow him to provide the paths to be taken for the F1 team to achieve the profitability and sales objectives set by Luca De Meo, director of the Renault Group. The Alpine company now wants to conquer continents that are still unknown for the small Dieppe brand.

The Formula 1 team is merely a means to achieve Renault’s objectives in terms of international reputation, as well as revenue and sales figures.

A highly / overly publicized rant from Rossi

After the two retirements at the Australian Grand Prix, Laurent Rossi, in an interview for Canal+, used very harsh words to describe the mistake made by his team and his drivers: “« We are far from the final goals of the year and I see that there is a spirit that is not worthy of the team. […] Are we at a level where some struggle to go to the next level, it happens in all sports? We need to determine if that’s what happened and if the bar is too high for some. […] There has been a lot of amateurism, which led to a result that was not good, bad, and I had told them that it was the last chance of the year. »”

These strong words had been widely covered in the media and had notably highlighted the poor atmosphere that could prevail within the F1 structure at that time. If the team’s results were not meeting expectations, this interview had undoubtedly caused an equally large uproar among the public and fans, as Laurent Rossi showed very little support for his team at that moment, shifting the blame onto other individuals. This outburst may have had more detrimental effects than anticipated for Laurent Rossi.

Otmar Szafnauer on the hot seat in F1?

The years go by and the results are similar for Alpine, unable to raise its level and catch up with its competitors in F1. Otmar Szafnauer, who arrived from Aston Martin after being fired by Lawrence Stroll, is he the right person to lead the projects and ambitions of the Dieppe brand? If Laurent Rossi was the first casualty in the restructuring of the Alpine brand, Otmar Szafnauer will be the next to be replaced if the team’s results do not improve in the coming weeks.

Since its arrival at the start of the 2022 season, the French team has been struggling. The loss of Alonso mid-2022, the departure of Oscar Piastri to McLaren, and the recruitment efforts to bring in top engineers don’t seem to be working out. The upcoming investments could help the team in the long run, with a new simulator. In the meantime, the team director is solely responsible for the team’s results and will be the next one to be replaced if Philippe Krief and Luca de Meo deem it necessary.