F1: Szafnauer to 'lose weight' after Alpine sacking

(GMM) Otmar Szafnauer says losing weight is now at the top of his list after being sacked by the Alpine Formula 1 team.

Although the Renault-owned team said at Spa-Francorchamps that his immediate departure was agreed mutually, former boss Szafnauer says it actually caught him by surprise.

Sacked - Otmar Szafnauer Team Principal Alpine F1 during the Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps 27-30 July 2023 Formula 1 World championship 2023. — Sacked – Otmar Szafnauer Team Principal Alpine F1 during the Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps 27-30 July 2023 Formula 1 World championship 2023.

“I don’t know why this decision was made,” he told Servus TV.

“We had four retirements in a row, but none of them were actually due to the team,” said Szafnauer, who said technical issues due to a supplier and crashes were the cause.

“But if the decision-makers don’t have the right information, they can’t then take the right steps.”

Because Szafnauer’s ousting came as a surprise to him, he said he doesn’t yet have any plans about what might come next.

“I’m only going to take a few weeks or months off now and try to lose weight,” he revealed. “I might run a little and go to the gym every day.”

Alpine sacked Szafnauer and Alan Permane (sporting director) because they refused to be browbeaten by Alpine’s front office into accepting an accelerated plan that dictated that races and world championships must be won quickly.

Pat Fry (chief technical officer) quit and joined Williams before he would surely also have been axed.