‘That’s not a lot’ – Otmar Szafnauer lands fresh Alpine dig after Miami GP breakthrough
Ex-Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer.
Otmar Szafnauer is not impressed by former team Alpine scoring their first F1 2024 point in Miami and does not believe they can be the next McLaren.
Alpine went down a completely new route with their F1 2024 car, the A524, but while they were prepared for a tough start, failing to score any points across the opening five rounds was not a reality they were prepared for. In Miami, they at last got off the mark.
Otmar Szafnauer rules out Alpine doing a McLaren
Esteban Ocon crossed the line P10 at the Miami Grand Prix, giving Alpine – a team which has undergone a colossal overhaul in their senior staff ranks – their first point of the season.
Szafnauer was one of those to leave, given the boot during the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix weekend, though the former Aston Martin boss is seeing no progress – quite the opposite in fact – compared to what Alpine were doing under his stewardship this time last year.
And with Alpine’s former midfield rival McLaren serving as the shining example of what Alpine want to accomplish – McLaren’s Lando Norris claiming his maiden victory in Miami – Szafnauer sees no signs that Alpine can replicate the resurgence of the Woking squad.
While claiming on the RacingNews365 podcast that it is Ocon’s “skill” to seize these opportunities and hoover up a result, Szafnauer added, in reference to Alpine’s Miami point: “For me, that’s not a lot.
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“Last year, when [we had] all those seniors that have now left, I think we scored six points.
“We left Miami with six points in the bag, we went to Monaco and I think in Monaco we scored 24 [21] points.
“They’re struggling, I can’t see them doing what McLaren have done.
“Going to Monaco and scoring 24 points this year, or Imola? I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Alpine has recently gained – rather than lost – the services of an important technical figure, with David Sanchez returning to Enstone as Alpine’s executive technical director, hot off the heels of his shock McLaren departure having only joined in January.