On the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix, Alpine has introduced that Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, Sporting Director Alan Permane and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry will leave the group following this weekend’s Spa F1 race.
Born in Semlac, a small village in Western Romania to an American father of German descent and a Romanian mom, Szafnauer graduated in electrical engineering and then in enterprise and finance in Detroit.
He joined Ford Motor Company earlier than changing into Operations Director at British American Racing in Formula One. He joined the Management Board of the Honda F1 Team in 2001 earlier than founding Soft Paur which launched the official Formula One Timing and Track Positioning Application on the iPhone in June 2009.
The identical yr noticed Szafnauer be a part of Force India and stayed with the Silverstone outfit when it grew to become Aston Martin for the 2021 season. At the begin of final yr, he joined the Alpine F1 Team as Team Principal.
Alpine has now revealed that Szafnaur will leave the group, however he’s set to proceed his duties as regular for this weekend’s race in Belgium.
An announcement from Alpine learn: “The team would like to thank Otmar for his hard work over the past 18 months and for leading the team in achieving fourth place in the 2022 Constructors’ Championship. The team wishes him the best for the future.”
Furthermore, the Anglo-French outfit additionally confirmed that it’s going to half methods with Sporting Director Alan Permane by mutual settlement. Just as Szafnauer, Permane may even proceed his function this weekend in Belgium earlier than departing forward of the summer season break.
“After 34 distinguished years at Enstone, the team extends its thanks to Alan and wishes him the best in his future endeavours,” learn a press release from the group.
The group additionally introduced that Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry will leave the group to proceed his profession in Formula 1 elsewhere. Fry joined Alpine forward of the 2022 F1 season and oversaw all technical actions, set efficiency targets, and establish future applied sciences for the automobile
Bruno Famin, VP, Alpine Motorsports, will assume the function of Interim Team Principal of BWT Alpine F1 Team from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards. Current Alpine Academy Director Julian Rouse is called Interim Sporting Director, with Matt Harman main the technical group at Enstone.
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