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Formula 1 Championship – 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix. Formula One World Championship, WM, Weltmeisterschaft. Paddock and Free Practice Toto Wolff AUT. Mercedes F1 Team Principal during 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix. Formula One World Championship – Paddock and Free Practice, Formula 1 Championship in Mogyorod, Hungary, July 21 2023 Mogyorod Hungaroring Hungary Copyright: xAlessioxDexMarcox/xLiveMediax LPS_1002596
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Formula 1 Championship – 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix. Formula One World Championship, WM, Weltmeisterschaft. Paddock and Free Practice Toto Wolff AUT. Mercedes F1 Team Principal during 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix. Formula One World Championship – Paddock and Free Practice, Formula 1 Championship in Mogyorod, Hungary, July 21 2023 Mogyorod Hungaroring Hungary Copyright: xAlessioxDexMarcox/xLiveMediax LPS_1002596
Toto Wolff has been calling teams out in recent times. He called Red Bull out for making other teams look like F2 cars. While Christian Horner does have a fiery nature in general, Toto Wolff seems calmer and composed. Yet the Mercedes CEO tore Alpine apart as he exposed a foolish mistake made by the French stable. What did Toto Wolff expose about Alpine?
Alpine has been going through a paradigm change in the last couple of months. A multi-million dollar investment pushed Alpine beyond a Billion dollar mark, Laurent Rossi was moved away from the CEO role and now Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane have been sacked by the team. It is difficult to gauge whether these changes will have a positive or a negative impact.
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via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Hungarian Grand Prix – Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary – July 22, 2023. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is seen before practice. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Nonetheless, Toto Wolff doesn’t seem pleased with the fact that Alpine let go of Alan Permane. The Austrian explained how Permane was amongst the oldest chief engineers in F1 and had over 30 years of experience in the sport. Wolff added how someone with Permane’s level of knowledge and experience shouldn’t be shown the door by any F1 team.
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According to Motorsport Nextgen Auto, Toto Wolff said, “Why Alan was so suddenly dismissed, I don’t know. I don’t know the details of the management change at Alpine. They have a lot of very respectable people and high-level staff, but you shouldn’t put someone with so much experience at the door.” [translated via Google]
Toto Wolff’s jab at Alpine is understandable. In fact, we were shocked when Alpine announced the departure of Alan Permane and Otmar Szafnauer. Only time will tell what Alpine really is up to. Nonetheless, the new rumored Alpine TP is believed to be recruiting new engineers for Alpine.
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Mattia Binotto reported to be bringing Ferrari engineers to Alpine
With Otmar Szafnauer gone, Mattia Binotto’s name has been popping up as the new Alpine TP. It is believed that the former Ferrari TP will bring a handful of engineers and power unit specialists from Ferrari to Alpine. Despite his unsuccessful campaign at Ferrari, Binotto chose the Maranello stable to bring the engineers from.
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via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Miami Grand Prix – Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, U.S. – May 5, 2022 Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto ahead of the Miami Grand Prix REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
It is speculated that a significant hike in salary along with many other economic benefits will be offered to these Ferrari engineers and specialists in an attempt to persuade them to join the Alpine Team.
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What do you make of the recent decisions made by Alpine?
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