Szafnauer departs as Alpine’s team boss

Alpine F1 team have announced that they are parting ways with team boss Otmar Szafnauer after the Belgium Grand Prix.

BREAKING: Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer and Sporting Director Alan Permane to depart Alpine following the Belgian Grand Prix#F1 pic.twitter.com/idRxwoAK93

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2023

More on this topic:

Gasly inks new long-term contract with Alpine

The 58-year-old is not the only figure to depart the French team as sporting director Alan Permane is also sent packing amid major shake up inside Alpine, following a string of disappointing results.

Alpine set themselves high standards going into this season, following a highly successful 2022, which saw them finish P4 in the Constructors. However, they have fallen behind the likes of Aston Martin and McLaren and are nowhere near the top three.

The decision to split with Szafnauer and Permane comes just over a week after former Alpine chief executive officer Laurent Rossi was moved into a new role in special projects at Renault and replaced with a new CEO in Philippe Krief.

One of the names that has been linked as a replacement is Ferrari’s ex-team boss Mattia Binotto.