Sergio Perez labels Alpine sacking Otmar Szafnauer a ‘SHAME’
Sergio Perez raced under Otmar Szafnauer's leadership during his time at Force India and Racing Point.
Follow Us
Sergio Perez (image via Daily Express), Otmar Szafnauer (image via Motorsport.com)
Otmar Szafnauer served the last race as the Alpine Team Principal at the Belgian GP. The 58-year-old joined the Enstone-based team in the middle of 2022 but failed to deliver the expected results. As such, the French team decided to part ways with Szafnauer after a tenure of only eighteen months. Now, Sergio Perez has expressed his views on the sacking of his former boss.
Perez was caught off-guard when he heard the news of the 58-year-old leaving the Renault works team. The Mexican driver insisted that it was disappointing to see Szafnauer get sacked after such a short stint at Enstone. The Red Bull driver hoped that the person succeeding Otmar Szafnauer would get sufficient time to show progress.
He is quoted by racingnews365.com, “Yeah, I was quite surprised with it, given how short notice it was… It is a shame that they let him move on. But whoever comes needs to have proper time, because all these things in Formula 1 take massive time.”
Otmar Szafnauer was previously the Deputy Team Principal of Force India and later the Team Principal of Racing Point and Aston Martin. Sergio Perez raced under the leadership of the Romanian-American during his time at the Silverstone-based team.
Discover: Five times Red Bull replaced a driver in the middle of an F1 season
Sergio Perez is adamant Otmar Szafnauer needed more time to show results
Perez believed that the rushed sacking of his former boss prevented Szafnauer from showing results. The Mexican driver insisted that the 58-year-old has what it takes to make progress with an F1 team. Otmar Szafnauer was key in establishing Force India as a formidable midfield contender despite having the smallest budgets on the grid.
Subsequently, Sergio Perez was convinced that the 58-year-old had immense potential to succeed with the resources of a works team like Alpine. The Red Bull driver explained, “I think Otmar lacked time to really show his potential, which I know is huge because I’ve seen what he’s done in other teams with very limited budgets, and with not-so-limited budgets as well.”
Thus, Sergio Perez was unhappy to see Otmar Szafnauer get sacked at the Belgian GP. The Mexican driver was disappointed by the decision made by the Enstone-based team. As the 33-year-old insisted, with some more time, Szafnauer would’ve shown tangible results through his leadership. Although, it remains to be seen if the 58-year-old returns with a new team.
In case you missed it:
- David Croft opens up on Red Bull race engineer GP’s ‘no nonsense’ approach to ‘hot headed’ Max Verstappen
- “He should be quiet,” Fernando Alonso calls out Otmar Szafnauer for his poor decision making skills at Alpine
Stay Updated!
Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)