Szafnauer open to F1 return but rules out another team principal role

Otmar Szafnauer has left the door open to a return to Formula 1, but the former Force India, Aston Martin and Alpine team principal says his next role in the paddock may look very different from his previous ones.

Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast, the 62-year-old said he misses the competitive intensity of the sport while acknowledging he could add value to a team without necessarily sitting at the top of its structure. “If I can be of value to improve a team or build a team… it’s got to be at the right level, and I’ve got to add value, not necessarily team principal because I’ve been there, done that,” he said.

Szafnauer also offered a pointed observation about the direction the team principal role has taken in recent years. “It seems like nowadays the team principals are more ex-race engineers,” he said, adding that some race engineers possess “different types of skills than what I think is required for a successful team principal” — a remark that carries weight given his own engineering and commercial background.

His departure from Aston Martin, which preceded his move to Alpine, came after Martin Whitmarsh joined as group CEO and, by Szafnauer’s account, assumed roughly 80 per cent of his responsibilities almost immediately. “I was CEO and team principal. He came in as group CEO… and I’m thinking you can’t have two popes,” he said, framing the episode as a cautionary tale about diluted leadership structures.

Szafnauer left Alpine following the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix and has since kept busy outside the top tier of motorsport. He co-hosts the High Performance Racing podcast alongside Jake Humphrey and Rob Smedley, has taken on the role of CEO at Van Amersfoort Racing, and has launched an app called EventR.

Whether a suitable opportunity materialises in F1 remains to be seen, but Szafnauer’s comments make clear he has not closed the chapter on the sport that defined much of his career.