Alpine CEO's criticism of Otmar Szafneur is off the mark according to F1 pundit

F1 pundit Valentin Khorounzhiy recently explained why Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi's criticism of team principal Otmar Szafnauer is not justified.

Since the Romanian-American was made the team boss of the French outfit just a year ago, Khorounzhiy feels that Rossi should not expect Szafnauer to instantly bring massive changes to the team and move up the grid.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, the F1 pundit explained how Rossi exaggerated Otmar Szafnauer's move to Alpine but soon started criticizing him when the team started falling behind in 2023. Khorounzhiy said:

"He hired Otmar last year, talked him up as one of the best decisions he ever made. Few months later, that same team principal is almost thrown under the bus and basically said, 'You need to sort this out.' It feels a little bit like Rossi wanting to take responsibility for the good things and then shift the responsibility for the bad things."

Valentin Khorounzhiy also gave his thoughts on how Alpine simply cannot improve in a few months and how Otmar Szafnauer will need more time to turn the team around, provided he is the right man for the job. Khorounzhiy said:

"So I don't have a strong opinion either way on him, but if he is being brought in to try and fix an organization and I'm talking about the Enstone side specifically."

"They have underperformed quite a lot and had some deep-rooted problems within it, whether that's on the technical side, the operational side, you can't expect that to be fixed in 12 months, it's really naive to think he can step in and suddenly turn it into an absolute cracked F1 team in 12 months."

He concluded:

"If he is the right man for the job, and I'm not saying he is, but Laurent Rossi thought he was... then you have to give him the time to actually sort it out."

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Alpine CEO clarifies Otmar Szafnauer's responsibilities

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi made it clear that it is Otmar Szafnauer's responsibility to steer the team to success. He explained how the team principal should focus on constantly making progress and bringing the team to a better position.

Rossi said, as per F1.com:

“He is responsible for the performance of the team – that’s his job. There is no hiding here. Otmar was brought in to steer the team, through the season and the next seasons towards the objectives that we have, which is to constantly make progress, as we did in the first two years – fifth and fourth – and to get to the podiums, and therefore, this is his mission to turn this team around and bring it to the performance that we want."

Unfortunately, Alpine have taken a step back after 2022. They are currently sixth in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, though both teams have the same amount of points.