Otmar Szafnauer: Renault management underestimates what success in F1 requires

Former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes Renault's senior management does not grasp the requirements for achieving success in F1.

Szafnauer's departure from the team coincided with significant changes at the Enstone outfit, including the exit of the longstanding sporting director Alan Permane.

These developments occurred after Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi also stepped down, being relocated from his role by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, who repositioned him away from the Formula 1 program.

During the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, Bruno Famin, the interim team principal, remarked that there was a discrepancy in timelines between Szafnauer and Renault regarding the acceleration of Alpine's five-year strategy to contend for victories and championships.

In a conversation with SiriusXM, Szafnauer explained that he could not agree to an impractical timeline set by de Meo.

He conveyed that the Renault leadership demonstrated a lack of comprehension regarding the essential factors for achieving success in the demanding realm of Formula 1.

"I think the senior management at Renault, CEO Luca de Meo, as everyone does in F1, wants success instantly and unfortunately, that's not how it works in F1," Szafnauer said.

"They wanted to do it faster than is possible and I couldn't agree to an unrealistic timeline because if you do that, it's only a matter of time and everyone gets frustrated, so I laid out a very realistic and possible plan and I think they wanted to shortcut that plan with somebody else.

"There are pockets of the organisation that the skill level is at a very elementary level and that's because the people they have there were college graduates, for example, as opposed to somebody with 25 years of knowledge.

"It was in those areas that I started to recruit, but the best in Formula 1 are usually on long-term contracts, at least three years.

"I was able to convince quite a few people in areas that we needed to bolster, but unfortunately they were to come some in the autumn of '23, most of them mid '24 and some of them in 2025, and that's what I try to explain that: 'Look, it's happening, it's coming and sometimes you take a half step backwards to take two forward.

"And they just didn't have that understanding. Either it was impatience or it was emotion, but definitely no understanding and unfortunately that's what it takes and that's what they'll find."