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F1 Pundit Ted Kravitz feels that the major reason behind Alpine's timing of the announcement of changes at a senior level is the team's messaging. According to Kravitz, the French squad wants to be seen as the team that is taking steps to improve the situation it finds itself in right now.
Alpine shocked everyone earlier this week as it announced the departure of Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane from the team. What was, however, surprising for many was the timing of the news. A press release issued during a race weekend and not before or after was what surprised Kravitz.
Talking about this on his 'Ted's Notebook' segment on Sky Sports, Kravitz claimed how according to him, all of this might have been Alpine's media gimmick to garner the most attention. He said:
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“They obviously parted ways, they did a deal where, I assume and we haven’t had this confirmed, that there was a financial settlement which allowed them to say that it was by mutual agreement that their contracts were terminated with Otmar and Alain Permane."
"So with that all in place, why not announce it on the Wednesday before we got here, so that it would have been the story on the Thursday, and then by today, Friday, it would have been all forgotten?" he said.
Kravitz added:
“Unless, they wanted to make the biggest splash possible in showing that they’re taking strong action and decisive action in removing elements that they think are not going to help them get to their goals. That’s the only explanation that it could be. They need to be seen, Renault, to be taking decisive action. So that’s the only logical conclusion as to why they didn’t do the old summer break press release.”
Alpine's future seems uncertain
With Otmar Szafnauer and the long-standing member Alan Permane out of the team, the future of Alpine seems uncertain. There has been speculation about Mattia Binotto joining the French squad but nothing seems concrete as of now.
On the other hand, there are questions raised about the manner in which things panned out. With no succession plan in place and no announcement made, the seriousness with which the entire episode has been carried out and a lack of forethought is alarming for fans.
Alpine is a major French brand and with even the country's leadership taking a keen interest in the sport, it remains to be seen what's going to happen next with the Enstone-based squad.
