F1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer Not Keen on Making Dramatic Changes at Alpine in 2022

The newly appointed Alpine boss has already spent some time with his new team at the 2022 pre-season testing but he still doesn’t want to introduce any new changes to the French F1 team. Otmar Szafnauer has been in Formula One for many years now and has been associated with former F1 teams like BAR, Honda and even Jaguar. But he eventually became successful after joining Force India, later known as Racing Point. He also helped the F1 team get the multi-year contract with Mercedes for the power unit.

Szafnauer parted ways with the English F1 team after serving last season when Racing Point rebranded to Aston Martin. Now he has joined the Alpine F1 as the Team Principal. But the new team principal still doesn’t want to make any changes in the Enstone base. Because he wants to adapt and see what’s different in his new workplace.

“My first priority is to learn,” Szafnauer reported. “I need to see how Enstone is different from my previous team, get to know everyone by name, discover the personalities, the DNA. Just learn.”

ALSO READ: Alpine Shrug Off Barcelona Testing Blues as Fernando Alonso & Co Target Q3 Entry at Bahrain GP

The Alpine boss continued, “You can’t change something just to do something. You have to understand what is going well and what you need to change. Cause you can also do the wrong things. It’s about understanding how the team works.”

Fernando Alonso is confident about Alpine F1’s success

The 40-year-old Spaniard joined Alpine last season and made a comeback to F1. Fernando Alonso joined the French constructor to help them win the championship, just like he did with Renault. Alonso, however, could only help Alpine finish in fifth place on the constructors’ table last season. Meanwhile, Alonso himself finished 10th on the Drivers’ Standings while his teammate Esteban Ocon finished 11th.

The two-times world champion recently took the 2022 challenger at the pre-season testing. His Bahrain testing results were better than the ones in Barcelona. In the desert, he even managed to set the fourth-fastest time of the 3 days of testing. The Spaniard is confident in his team and believes they will improve over the 2022 season.

WATCH THIS STORY: From Prince to the Queen: When F1 Stars Interacted With the Royal Family

Alonso will again go behind the wheels of the Alpine F1 A522 tomorrow for the first practice session. Both the Alpine drivers are positive, with the French F1 team eyeing a Q3 on this Saturday. It would be fascinating to see whether Alpine would shine at the season-opener in Bahrain or not.