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It's not a huge surprise to see Otmar Szafneur and even Alain Permaine get the pink slip just like Laurent Rossi did from the Alpine racing team a few weeks back. The French squad has had a terrible first half of the 2023 F1 season. The team has had as many as three double DNFs in 11 races and finds itself a distant sixth in the championship.
More importantly, the assured consistent aura of last year is gone. There are far too many shortcomings and somehow the team has not had the best of luck this season. Having said that, for a team that has set a target to win races and challenge for the title at the end of a five-year plan, the decision seems questionable.
More importantly, this shows why the Renault/Alpine brand has been an utter failure in F1, ever since its return in 2016.
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What about the "five-year plan" to the top?
When Otmar Szafneur joined the team in 2022, he talked about what was supposed to be a 100-race/five-year plan for the outfit to reach the top. That plan started last season when Alpine beat McLaren to become the best midfield team on the grid.
The 2023 F1 season was supposed to be the continuation of that upward trend. At the pre-season launch, Otmar talked about consolidating a P4 finish in the championship and a few podiums this season. The team did secure a podium in Monaco but other than that, the lack of consistency and performance has seen the team drop down to P6 in the championship.
It's hard to deny that the drop P6 is not alarming. It's also hard to deny that teams like McLaren and Aston Martin have done a commendable job in the first half of the season. More importantly, it does bring into question where is the team supposed to be on its progression during the second year of a 'five-year' plan.
Sure, it's not supposed to be regressing but this decision appears to have come as a result of the surge in form experienced by Aston Martin and McLaren.
The 2023 F1 form is worrisome but why hire Otmar if you can't back him
A bigger question that needs to be asked here is why Otmar Szafneur was hired in 2022, proposed a five-year plan, and then thrown out of the team in 2023. During that time, he's had a very impressive 2022 season where he secured the team's best result in a few seasons.
If a bad set of 11 races is all it took to remove Otmar then why hire him on a multi-year project? There are far too many things about Alpine that don't make much sense right now. One of the major ones at this very moment is the succession plan. With Alain Permaine, Nick Fry (moving to Williams), Otmar Szafneur, and Laurent Rossi gone, who is going to replace them?
For now, the only focus has been on, for the lack of a better word, 'getting rid of the weed'. Heading into the summer break, this is where Alpine finds itself. With a stand-in team principal in the form of Bruno Famin, there's not much that can be said about a progression plan because it does not seem that there is one in place.
Alpine's unfortunate parallels with Ferrari
There have been comparisons drawn between Alpine and Ferrari even in the past as well. But there seems to be an eerie resemblance that the automotive manufacturer would have wanted to avoid. Both the French and the Italian outfits are mired in politics and victims of unreasonable planning on their parts.
If we take a look at Ferrari and then switch our focus to Alpine/Renault. The resemblance is uncanny. Just like the Italian team, the history of the French team is mired in a lack of proper goal-setting and regime changes at the top.
It started with the now-Ferrari team principal leaving the squad at the end of the 2017 season and since then many personnel have come and gone. Cyril Abiteboul was a prominent presence until he wasn't. Alain Prost was a respected member until he wasn't and the list has continued to grow with Otmar Szafneur and Laurent Rossi seemingly the latest names.
The French squad had started the 2023 F1 season in a position similar to what it found itself in 2019. It was the best of the rest and finished fourth in 2018. The next step was going to be progress toward the front of the grid. It didn't happen in 2019 and what followed was bloodshed within the team in the coming years.
It hasn't happened in 2023 and what has followed is bloodshed within 11 races. One can't help but think about both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Things were looking up when they joined the team. One can't say the same thing right now.
It's unfortunate to say but Alpine might be a midfield Ferrari. The French squad has all the traits that the Italian brand has, except that it does not invest the same resources in the sport.
The future does not look bright for Alpine at the moment and it will be interesting to see what's in store for it in the rest of the season.
