F1 Insider Explains the Strategy Behind Drastic Management Shift in Alpine Under Laurent Rossi

Groupe Renault launched an ambitious plan last year to boost their market presence and profits. Rebranding the Renault F1 team as Alpine was a step in the first phase of this Renaulution strategic plan. The team not only entered the 2021 season with a fresh label but there was also a major hierarchical shift in management, as they let Cyril Abiteboul go from the team.

Interestingly, after a year of this monumental shift, Alpine have begun the second phase of upper management layoffs. After the exit of executive director Marcin Budkowski earlier this month, it was reported yesterday that Alain Prost has also left his advisor role at the Alpine F1 team citing personal reasons. The Frenchman even accused the Groupe Renault team of showing a lack of respect to him.

This comes days after Alpine announced impressive growth in sales performance, owing much of it to their F1 presence. Speculations are making rounds that Otmar Szafnauer will replace Budkowski in the team. Szafnauer resigned from Aston Martin earlier this month.

The strategy behind this drastic management shift in Alpine F1

In a session at the beginning of 2021, Renault CEO Luca de Meo termed 2021-23 as the phase of resurrection. In his words, “It will be clearly about cost reduction, margin, and cash generation”. They staged the brand firmly on the F1 track with an intention of boosting their presence internationally and growing their sales.

As per reports, Budkowski’s exit was directly influenced by his replacement in the face of Otmar. This can be a political move in line with the major restructuring that Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is doing. Rossi is ardent about taking Alpine back to the zenith and that plan inspires these bold decisions.

“I will do an audit of the collective and individual performance of the team and decide when the season will end,” he said during the last Mexican Grand Prix. And as everyone can witness, the first conclusions of that audit are already visible.

“The current organization, which has finished 15 consecutive times in the points, is performing well, so I don’t see myself breaking that. We’re in the middle of next year’s car development, so I’m not going to break that either.”

“At the end of the season and the development of the 2022 car, I will decide what I want to evaluate in order to achieve superior performance. Davide Brivio will be part of this reflection,” he added.

The upcoming F1 season is going to be an exciting one. Fans are expecting fairly strong midfield teams like Alpine to climb the ladder. After a series of structural changes, can Alpine pull off a masterpiece? Fans will know soon enough.

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