At the presentation of the Alpine team’s new car, leader Otmar Szafnauer spoke about the challenges for the upcoming season…
Question: How do you rate the results of the past season?
Otmar Safnauer: It was a great honor for me when Laurent Rossi and Luca de Meo entrusted me to lead the team in 2022. We finished the season in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship and achieved our goal. Another step has been taken and now I look forward to how 2023 will end for us.
Last season I was able to learn a lot, understand the features of the new regulations and fine-tune the car consistently. The past off-season turned out to be exciting, but it’s behind us – we presented our new car, made possible thanks to the efforts of more than 1200 people.
Our goal in 2023 is to finish at least fourth again, with more convincing results – more finishes, more points and fewer retirements. I have high expectations for everyone on the team, not least Esteban and Pierre, who will work together to get the best results for the team.
Q: What do you think of the new car?
Otmar Safnauer: We have worked hard on the A523, combining last season’s experience with innovative solutions. This year our car will be more competitive and reliable – our engineers in Enstone and Weary have done everything possible for this, as the reliability left a lot to be desired last season.
We continue to grow our staff, we have a fantastic team spirit – everyone has incredible energy to succeed. Time will tell how high we can climb.
Q: Are you happy that Esteban and Pierre will be playing for the team this year?
Otmar Safnauer: I’ve been working with Esteban for the fourth year now, I’m happy to see his progress, now he’s in great shape. Thanks to Esteban, our team finished fourth in 2022. I would like to see further progress from his side so that we can achieve even more success.
This year is the first time I’m working with Pierre Gasly, but I already said that we invited him to the team based on his talent, speed and experience in Formula 1.
We have great drivers, we have built a fast car that will allow them to demonstrate their potential.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
