Otmar Szafnauer argues that the current FIA rules mean that the smaller teams are unable to improve their infrastructure. According to the Alpine team boss, the top teams have better facilities and because investments in this area fall below the budget cap, the midfield teams are stuck with what they currently have. Szafnauer argues that certain projects should fall outside the budget ceiling, pointing to Aston Martin.
Alpine is currently having a disappointing season. The French manufacturer, through CEOs Luca de Meo and Laurent Rossi, announced prior to the season during the presentation of the A523 that it wants to be at least fourth among the manufacturers in 2023. After five races, however, the gap to number four Ferrari can be called huge and there were already rumors that Szafnauer could pack up and that Alpine would be taken over by AutoNation.
Szafnauer wants necessary investments to fall outside the budget ceiling
However, money is not the problem, says Szafnauer. According to the Alpine team boss, the FIA rules mainly ensure that smaller teams are unable to improve the infrastructure. “The others have better simulation tools than we have,” says the Romanian American at Formel1.de. “We need to talk to the FIA so that necessary investments do not fall below the budget cap. Otherwise you are stuck with the existing infrastructure.’
“We have to build a new transmission test bench before 2026. That leaves no room for other measures,” adds Szafnauer. He then points to an example from his old team Aston Martin. Certain projects should fall outside the budget cap, such as the Aston Martin wind tunnel, for which an exception was made. If that had fallen below the budget cap, it would never have happened,” the Alpine team boss refers to the huge step that Aston Martin took in 2023.
