The BWT Alpine F1 Team seems to be the home of chaos right now in the world of Formula 1. While their on-track performance continues to disappoint, multiple controversies off-track have further marred an already disappointing season.
On-track Woes
Alpine secured fourth place in the constructor’s championship after a year-long fight with McLaren last year. However, it was still a whopping 342 points behind third-placed Mercedes. This year the team wanted to close the gap to the top 3 and make further inroads into their 100-race plan.
What has transpired on track has left the Enstone-based team in shock. Not only did Aston Martin leapfrog them in the rankings, they have now been passed by a resurgent McLaren. This has left them 6th in the constructor’s championship, ahead of only the designated back-marker teams in the standings. Multiple bad results led to a public rebuke by then-CEO Laurent Rossi, which already showcased poor communication between the racing team and the executives.
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The Latest Exit
In two weeks, Alpine have announced the departure of their Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, and sporting director Alan Permane. The last name is especially shocking because Permance has been with the team for 34 years, since 1989!
This has come on the back of the announcement to sack Laurent Rossi as the CEO of Alpine. All these moves come after Bruno Famin was appointed as the Vice-President of Motorsport at the company.
A Worrying Year and a Half
If we take the last 18 months into account, Alpine has lost Marcin Budkowski as its Executive Director, along with two drivers who have set the 2023 season on fire: Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri. While the talent of the double world champion has never been in question, the young Australian has shown in recent races that he was worth all the hype and more.
Also Read: Otmar Szafnauer to leave Alpine, Fry moves to Williams
All of this doesn’t take into account the departure of Alain Prost as the non-executive director of the team. He left in early 2022 after disagreements with Laurent Rossi, claiming the former CEO wanted a lot more control for himself.
The only good news for Alpine has been the recent investment made by a consortium featuring the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and Zinedine Zidane. Let’s see if all of these exits bring about a new more competitive era for the team or plunge them further into chaos.
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