Rossi: We will ask Safnauer for failures

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said he will not wait until the end of the year and will take tough action if the team’s results fall short of expectations.

We wrote about him attacking the team with harsh criticism, and also quoted the reaction of Otmar Szafnauer, head of Alpine F1, but Rossi, in an interview with the championship’s official website, actually continued to accuse his subordinates of not working effectively enough .

Laurent Rossi: “During the weekend we make too many mistakes. If you add to that relatively poor results and insufficiently efficient organization of work processes, you end up in a difficult position. And that means it’s going to be a tough year.

It’s still early in the season and I don’t want to give up, but something has to change. We must continue to strengthen the team to return to the previous level of results. One of the things that needs to be changed is the mental attitude of the team. The people who work there now have to reorganize themselves and we are going to invite new specialists.

The team must understand that they have to do all this themselves, this is their responsibility. I hope they made the same diagnosis. I will explain to them that this is the diagnosis and that they have to solve everything themselves.”

Asked what action he expects from Alpine F1 head Otmar Szafnauer, Rossi said: “He is responsible for the results, it is his job. Otmar was invited to lead the team, to fulfill the tasks we face so that it progresses steadily, just like in the previous two years, when we took 5th and 4th place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Our riders need to get on the podium and Safnauer’s mission is to rebuild the team and bring it to the level of performance we demand of it. In the world of sports, only a limited number of misses can be allowed, because as a rule they are all clearly visible. Everyone can see whether we are going in the right direction or not.

Your credibility depends on it. I would say Otmar is a very capable leader, but he has a huge task ahead of him. Last year the team performed relatively well, we took 4th place and this result was encouraging.

And now we cannot stay at this level, and that is unacceptable to me. Otmar is responsible for all this, not alone, but together with his team, but the question mainly comes from him.

As far as I know, Aston Martin has fewer engineers than we do. They do not yet have their own wind tunnel and the new base has not yet been commissioned. But by calling in the right specialists, they were able to speed up the modernization process considerably. This suggests that the key to good results is creativity and effective work. The rules of the game are just that, we understand that, so I’m not ready to accept excuses that the Alpine F1 lacks resources.

I will not give peace to our people and I will not correct the goals they face. The team managed to take 4th place in the Constructors’ Championship and I want it to stay at this level. If they can’t, it’s a failure.

If they give 500%, they can deploy this ship, but they still fail, that can at least be considered an extenuating circumstance. But if none of this happens, we should expect consequences. That’s the trading rule. And I’m not going to wait until the end of the year. The trajectory of the team does not suit me. Her attitude needs to change as soon as possible.”