Szafnauer departed the team after final month’s Belgian Grand Prix as a part of wholesale adjustments on the Enstone outfit, with long-time sporting director Alan Permane additionally leaving.
The information adopted the departure of Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, who was moved apart by Renault CEO Luca de Meo to a place away from the F1 programme.
At Spa, interim staff principal Bruno Famin mentioned Szafnauer and Renault had been on “totally different timelines” when it comes to slicing brief Alpine’s five-year plan to struggle for wins and championships.
Speaking to SiriusXM, Szafnauer says he “could not conform to an unrealistic timeline” with de Meo, saying the Renault administration had a lack of expertise of what it takes to achieve success in F1.
“I feel the senior administration at Renault, CEO Luca de Meo, as everybody does in F1, needs success immediately and sadly, that is not the way it works in F1,” Szafnauer mentioned.
“They wished to do it sooner than is feasible and I could not conform to an unrealistic timeline as a result of for those who do this, it is solely a matter of time and everybody will get annoyed, so I laid out a really reasonable and potential plan and I feel they wished to shortcut that plan with someone else.”
Szafnauer pointed to Renault’s lack of endurance over his recruitment plans as a symptom of the underlying points.
He revealed that when he began at Alpine 18 months in the past, he discovered a number of gaps within the Enstone staff’s know-how. Plugging these holes by attracting employees from rival groups, who’re typically on long-term contracts and topic to gardening depart, entails lengthy lead instances.
In response to Szafnauer, Renault’s lack of expertise of that course of meant he could not get that message throughout to his bosses.
“There are pockets of the organisation that the talent degree is at a really elementary degree and that is as a result of the folks they’ve there have been school graduates, for instance, versus someone with 25 years of information.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523
Photograph by: Alpine
“It was in these areas that I began to recruit, however the very best in Method 1 are often on long-term contracts, no less than three years.
“I used to be capable of persuade fairly just a few folks in areas that we wanted to bolster, however sadly they had been to come back some within the autumn of 2023, most of them mid 2024 and a few of them in 2025, and that is what I attempt to clarify that: ‘Look, it is taking place, it is coming and typically you are taking a half step backwards to take two ahead.
“And so they simply did not have that understanding. Both it was impatience or it was emotion, however undoubtedly no understanding and sadly that is what it takes and that is what they’re going to discover.”
Szafnauer added the interference from the Renault group was “greater than I’ve ever seen earlier than”, with varied departments not reporting on to him however to his superiors.
“The dad or mum firm wished to have a number of management in a number of areas of the racing staff, greater than I’ve ever seen earlier than,” he defined.
“The business space, the advertising and marketing space, HR, finance, communication, all that stuff reported to not me however round me, to someone else within the larger organisation, and so they all act like a Navy, and we’ve got to be pirates with a view to win.
“It isn’t okay in any respect as a result of if you are going to rent someone and you have to get a contract out inside a day as a result of that is what we do in Method 1, you’ll be able to’t take two weeks.
“If it takes you two weeks, possibly that particular rent went someplace else. You have to be pirates.”
SiriusXM’s full Szafnauer interview is aired on Thursday evening at 6pm ET on Automobiles & Tradition with Jason Stein, on SiriusXM Business Radio channel 132.