“Announce Binotto”: Fans stunned as Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer set to leave French team after Belgian GP

Alpine have announced the departure of their team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, a week after axing their team CEO, Laurent Rossi. This is a part of the restructuring that the team has been working on, like other teams on the grid (Ferrari).

Along with Szafnauer, sporting director Alan Permane has also been let go. The Belgian Grand Prix is set to be their final race with Alpine, and they would be looking forward to expanding their motorsports portfolio elsewhere.

Fans were quite in a frenzy after the news was announced, and it met with the sarcasm of Twitter (or 'X'). A fan mentioned that Mattia Binotto, who was replaced by Fred Vasseur at Ferrari this season, would mark his return to the grid.

"Announce Binotto"

Some were quite technical to explain the entire situation that they have been going through in the recent season.

"Understandable. Man lost them alonso and piastri and the team went backward under him. From p4 to p6. Btw p4 car was built to finish by the previous management."

Szafnauer had been with the team for the past 18 months, and the team thanked him for his services.

While Szafnauer's term with the team was rather short-lived, Permane had been with them for the past three decades. The resignations are revealed to be on 'mutual agreements.'

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Alpine's major restructuring shaking the team up

Before the announcement of Szafnauer and Permane's departure, the team had revealed that CEO, Laurent Rossi, was being removed from the position and moved to 'special projects.' Philippe Krief, who was Alpine's former Vice President of Engineering and Product Performance, is set to replace Rossi, as F1 marked.

Renault group CEO Luca de Meo stated that the team is ready to be in the stage of further transformation, as F1 quoted him:

"Alpine is now ready to enter a new phase of its development and to become a brand of the future."

He added:

"Philippe combines a long industry experience, great technical knowledge with the leadership qualities that are key to the success of our project, including the launch of the brand's new vehicles starting next year. I fully trust Philippe and his team to take Alpine to new heights."

The team has been rather losing out this season, especially since McLaren brought in their upgrades. There is a huge gap between the two teams now. With the restructuring, the French outfit could expect to perform better with their drivers.