F1, Alpine: Omar Szafnauer’s farewell made official

F1, Omar Szafnauer’s farewell as Alpine team principal made official

The revolution at Alpine continues. After the arrival of Philippe Krief as the Scuderia’s new CEO, the French team, through a statement on its accounts, made official the farewells of three other members: team principal Omar Szafnauer, sports director Alan Permane and technical director Pat Fry. Taking the place of the U.S. engineer, starting with the Zandvoort GP, will be Bruno Famin, current vice president of Alpine Motorsport.

“The BWT Alpine F1 Team announces today that it will part ways by mutual agreement with Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. Otmar will continue his normal duties for this weekend’s race in Belgium before leaving the team ahead of the summer break.

The team would like to thank Otmar for his hard work over the past 18 months and for leading the team to a fourth place finish in the 2022 Constructors’ Championship. The team wishes him all the best for the future.

The team also confirms that it will part ways with Sports Director Alan Permane by mutual agreement. Alan will continue in his role this weekend in Belgium before departing ahead of the summer break. After 34 years at Enstone, the team thanks Alan and wishes him the best for his future.

The team also announces that Pat Fry will leave the team to continue his Formula 1 career elsewhere.

Bruno Famin, vice president of Alpine Motorsports, will assume the role of interim Team Principal of the BWT Alpine F1 Team starting with the Dutch Grand Prix. Current Alpine Academy director Julian Rouse has been named interim sports director, while Matt Harman will lead the technical team in Enstone. Both Julian and Matt will report to Bruno Famin,” this is the statement issued by the French Scuderia.