“Thank you for the season, I’m very proud of you guys. We executed every Sunday to perfection. It’s only the beginning. The best is yet to come next year, I promise.”
Those were the words spoken by double Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso after his drive to eighth place at last year’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The campaign had just ended, but already, the Spaniard was looking ahead to 2022 and the chance to move forward under the operation of new technical regulations.
Alonso has had the sport’s technical switch-up in mind for some time – it was the defining factor in his decision to return to Formula 1, and he wasn’t best pleased that the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the introduction of the new regulations to be pushed back by one season.
Despite penning an early multi-year extension with Esteban Ocon last season, Fernando Alonso’s flare and grid presence very much makes him Alpine’s party piece. But as the new season creeps into view on the horizon, all does not appear to be peaches and cream in the Enstone staff canteen.
Just over one week ago, Alpine’s Executive Director Marcin Budkowski abruptly departed the team with immediate effect. Budkowski had led the Anglo/French squad throughout the 2021 campaign following the abrupt exit of Cyril Abiteboul early last year.
The news arrived just days after Aston Martin’s Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer vacated his role at Aston Martin, amid rumours that he was set to join Alpine, along with Racing Point/Aston Martin’s long time and prominent sponsor BWT.
But Budkowski’s exit was a silent affair compared to the sudden departure of Alain Prost, who rejected a two-year extension to his Non-Executive Director role over the winter. In an interview with L’Equipe, Prost did not leave his guns holstered when explaining why he opted to part ways with Alpine.
“Laurent Rossi [the CEO of Alpine] wants all the light. The 2021 season was very disruptive for me, in that I felt that the old ones [at the team] had to go,” Prost said. “I accept the change because we don’t have to do F1 always the same way. We can do it differently, and that is what throughout the last year has been done. But for me, it became too complicated. I was no longer involved in the decisions. Sometimes I did not even share in them at all but I had to continue to put out the official word.
“Even as a member of the board of directors, I discovered certain decisions at the last minute. One might not be able to be heard, but at least one should be warned in time. It’s a question of respect. Relations became more and more complicated. I felt that there was a lot of jealousy. What I don’t appreciate is the relationship and the lack of respect for people. When the team boss doesn’t even say hello to you when you arrive at the circuit, it’s because there’s no more fun. There isn’t even any respect anymore. And then it just can’t work.”
Prost’s comments paint a blurry and unhappy picture over the structure of Alpine’s management, and if true, would seem to imply a disorganised working environment just as the new season and new regulations come into effect. Increasingly there are also further rumblings about more senior personnel changes and there has been reportedly more than a little backroom angst among the staff. It’s a disruptive situation that should be avoided at the best of times, never mind when dealing with fresh opportunities that come with a new era of the sport.
In truth, no one really knows where Alpine will stack up on the grid until the opening round of the 2022 campaign. But should the team provide a car capable of winning races and potentially more, it should be ready for such a fight with Alonso behind the wheel. Despite being 40 years of age, Alonso proved in his comeback season last year that his aggression and speed have not dwindled in his time off. In today’s world of motorsport, the question of experience, and by consequence age, is starting to become less of a handicap and is no longer a barrier when looking across at the various disciplines right now.
Nevertheless, it’s an uncomfortable way to start the year for Alpine, who has left the behind the Renault name and birthed a new identity last season, and one that it hoped would prove to be more successful than its Reggie predecessor, whose five year plan for success was anything but successful.
The ever-ready Alonso, alongside Ocon, who in 2021 showed impressive speed to match the double World Champion, make for a strong pairing, one that can bring Alpine the success it craves. But it’s up to those above them in the chain of command to ensure there is a suitable working environment, or else they risk an uncomfortable several months ahead.
This opinion article originally appeared in issue 451 of our weekly digital motorsport magazine, Motorsport Monday. Completely free to read with no sign-up necessary, Motorsport Monday is published every Monday morning and is packed full of motorsport content. Check out the latest issue here.
Keyword: Worrying times ahead for Alpine in 2022, or not?