bosses

Otmar Szafnauer

Otmar Szafnauer

Ostmar Szafnauer served as team boss at Alpine until the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, when he left by "mutual agreement". The Romanian American engineer spent just 18 months at the French team. He was previously part of British American Racing and Honda. He spent the majority of his F1 career at Force India. He joined in 2009 and left the team when they were known as Aston Martin in 2022.

Otmar Szafnauer

Ostmar Szafnauer served as team boss at Alpine until the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, when he left by "mutual agreement". The Romanian American engineer spent just 18 months at the French team. He was previously part of British American Racing and Honda. He spent the majority of his F1 career at Force India. He joined in 2009 and left the team when they were known as Aston Martin in 2022.

Calm American influence

Before Szafnauer became in charge of Force India, the American was already involved in the automotive industry. Initially at Ford, and then at BAR. He didn’t switch to Jaguar, but he did move to Honda when the Japanese team returned to Formula 1. Szafnauer quickly climbed the ranks there before it abruptly came to an end when Honda pulled the plug at the end of 2008.

Brawn GP took over the whole of Honda; there was no place for Otmar Szafnauer, according to Brawn. Ross Brawn himself informed Szafnauer at the end of 2008 that he had to look for work elsewhere.

The success of Force India

Szafnauer wasn't sidelined for long as Force India made him an offer. The team that used to drive under the name Spyker found their way up the ladder in 2009 (first without Szafnauer) and finally took points and even a podium place during the Belgian GP. It was up to Szafnauer to make such results more frequent in the future.

Under the leadership of the American, many drivers came and went at Force India. With a lineup consisting of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, Force India achieved their best final result in the championship: P4 in 2016 with 173 points. One season later, Nico Hulkenberg moved to Renault and it was Esteban Ocon who got the German’s seat. Again P4 for the Szafnauer-led team in 2017, this time with 14 points more than a year earlier (187).

Rebirth

Force India was not by any means a rich team. With a relatively small workforce and a budget significantly smaller than that of any top team, they still managed to perform brilliantly year after year, especially in terms of points scored per dollar invested. However, when owner Vijay Mallya was constantly chased by creditors, the curtain fell: Force India was put into administration prior to the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

There were plenty of interested parties, but the question was what was best for the team. Sergio Perez and Otmar Szafnauer ultimately managed to get the best for the team by choosing a consortium led by billionaire Lawrence Stroll (father of Lance Stroll). Szafnauer became the team boss of the new team called Racing Point, Perez stayed on as a driver.

The one less happy with the deal was Esteban Ocon. Instead, as expected, Lance Stroll came over from Williams. Otmar Szafnauer had no choice and had to watch on as the young Canadian driver performed significantly behind Perez. The team then became known as Aston Martin. Results were not as desired, and ahead of the 2022 season, Szafnauer left. One month later, Alpine confirmed they had signed him as the new Team Principal and announced the target of fighting for the championship within 100 races.

Ater just 34 Grands Prix, Alpine announced that Szafnauer would leave the team.