Otmar Szafnauer, the former Alpine F1 Team principal, has revealed that despite being the team leader, he had no control over the Enstone-based outfit.
Speaking to Jake Humphrey’s High-Performance podcast, Szafnauer said that HR didn’t report to him, the Communications team didn’t report to him, and the committee in France made all of the decisions, which is why the team is where it is today, when he joined the team. he didn’t know that this was how things were going to work.
Szafnauer, who also led the Force India F1 Team, confirmed that he twice paid the salaries of the staff at the Silverstone-based outfit, which Vijay Mallya, at that time, owned with the help of his business partner. The amount was in the millions, and he confirmed to the podcast that he did not let the staff know that he had paid the salaries.
Szafnauer has also confirmed that his Formula One journey is far from over and revealed that we would like to be with an American-backed team but wants the team based in Motorsports Valley, Silverstone; this suggestion is that he could be in line to take up a position with Andretti Global Formula One team should the team succeed in getting their place on the grid.
Szafnauer also confirmed that he had nothing to do with the Oscar Piastri Alpine situation, which happened prior to his arrival at the Enstone-based outfit. However, much to his annoyance, his picture was put on the Alpine press release.
When it comes to his time with Aston Martin, Szafnauer revealed that he knew things weren’t going to go his way with the arrival of Martin Whitmarsh who has since left the organization.