“We still have 75 races,”Otmar Szafnauer reveals Alpine’s 100 race plan amid performance concerns

Otmar Szafnauer is confident that the team is moving in the right direction with their 100 race plan.

“We still have 75 races,”Otmar Szafnauer reveals Alpine’s 100 race plan amid performance concerns

Otmar Szafnauer (Via Twitter)

Otmar Szafnauer and Alpine seem to be in deep waters in 2023. The Romanian-American made the decision to leave Aston Martin and join Alpine for this season. That decision has seemingly backfired as Aston Martin under the leadership of Mike Krack is making big moves. Meanwhile, Alpine is stuck with pace and reliability issues troubling them every race weekend.

Nevertheless, the Alpine Team principal is not very worried about the results on track with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. As a matter of fact Otmar has no concerns regarding the need to immediately improve the performance of the car. Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi on the other hand has voiced is concerns about the team’s start to the 2023 F1 season. He described the team’s start as ‘amateurish’.

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While Otmar Szafnauer is working on increasing the performance of the team, many have stated that it’s a toxic environment at Alpine. Even Alain Prost has gone on to state that Laurent Rossi was one of the main factors contributing to the toxicity. The team has a target of finishing 4th in the championship but it doesn’t look like they’re gonna get close anytime soon this year.

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Otmar Szafnauer is unfazed by the need to drastically improve results

In an interview, here is what he said. “When the 100-race plan happened, we also put a plan together for the infrastructure that we needed, skills that we needed. We’re trying to get the infrastructure… you’ve got to get the people that have the right tools,” he said.
“We still have 75 races, I’ve stopped counting, but it’s around 75 [races left],” he continued.

“So if we have 25 a year, that’s three years – so about three and a half years to go,” he stated. “Within those three and a half years, we’ll get a new simulator, [a] new head of simulation – these are things that will come. And when they come, we will take those steps,” he concluded. The whole thing just goes on to prove how there is lack of proper authority and accountability at Alpine with confusion in leadership.

Alpine currently sits in 6th place in the 2023 Constructors championship with just 14 points to their name. They are on par with McLaren. However, the gap between 4th and 5th is more than triple the points. It is a clear showcase of the difference between the top teams and Alpine. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon occupy 10th and 12th place respectively in the driver’s championship standings.

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