Axed Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has admitted the one key issue stopping him from joining the Andretti Formula 1 project after speaking with Michael Andretti.
Szafnauer has so far remained out of work since leaving Alpine after one-and-a-half seasons in charge. The Enstone-based squad unceremoniously fired the 59-year-old following FP1 at the Belgian GP in 2023. Yet he stayed at Spa-Francorchamps to see out the weekend’s race.
Alpine hired Szafnauer ahead of the 2022 season but he did not oversee a successful start to the 2023 campaign. The Renault-owned outfit left Belgium sixth in the constructors’ table with 57 points. Alpine would go on to end last season in sixth place, with 120 points in total.
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Otmar Szafnauer opens up on his talks to join Andretti in F1
Now, Szafnauer’s next role may be with Andretti as the American motorsport giants target a spot on the Formula 1 grid in 2025. But the Romanian-American engineer will not agree any move to join the IndyCar and Formula E powerhouse’s project until they get F1’s green light.
“I have had some discussions with Michael Andretti,” Szafnauer told Motor Sport Magazine. “He’d called me even before I went to Alpine, and I told him I’d love to help him. They have to get the F1 entry first because, without an entry, how can I help him?
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“If they are accepted, then I will be able to discuss getting involved, getting them started [and] getting them moving.”
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Andretti received the FIA’s green light to join Formula 1 last October. But Liberty Media and the 10 existing teams must also sign off on their arrival. Yet Andretti – who have partnered with General Motors, via Cadillac – already have one car in Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne.
Otmar Szafnauer could be a coup after his success at Force India
Andretti have been working in Toyota’s wind tunnel since October on a 2024-spec car. They remain intent on joining the Formula 1 grid in 2025 or 2026, with a full test programme for 2025. But getting Szafnauer on board could be huge for Andretti’s eventual Formula 1 entry.
Szafnauer has worked in Formula 1 since 1999 after first joining the British American Racing team as their operations director. He also worked for Honda from 2005-08 as the Japanese giants’ vice president of racing developments before moving to Force India during late 2009.
He played a key role in turning Force India into one of the best midfield teams, despite their limited resources. The Silverstone-based squad were 10th and pointless in the 2008 season. Yet Force India rose to fifth place in 2015 before securing two fourth-place finishes in a row.
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