F1 News: Sergio Perez is the latest member of the Formula 1 paddock to give his opinion on the managerial changes currently being undertaken by Alpine. The Mexican rider said it was a shame the French team had to part ways with team principal Otmar Szafnauer.
Szafnauer joined Alpine as Team Principal at the start of the 2022 season, having left a similar role at Aston Martin a few months earlier.
But ahead of last month’s Belgian GP it was announced that he and sporting director Alan Permane would leave the French team. And Sergio Perez, who worked under Szafnauer at Aston Martin in previous forms of Force India and Racing Point from 2014 to 2020, admitted he was “quite shocked” by the Romanian-American driver’s sudden departure from Alpine.
“I think I was quite surprised by that, given the short notice. I think Otmar is great, anyone in that position you have to give them time. And I think Otmar ran out of time to really show his potential, which I know is huge,” Perez said.
“I saw what he did in other teams with very limited budgets and with not so limited budgets as well. So, I thought it was a shame that they let him go. But yeah , I think on the other hand, whoever comes has to have a good time because everything in Formula 1 takes a very long time,” he added.
Article tags: Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine, Sergio Perez
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