OTMAR SZAFNAUER OPENS DOOR TO F1 COMEBACK BUT HINTS AT DIFFERENT ROLE

Otmar Szafnauer says he'd return to Formula 1, but not as a team principal. The 62-year-old, who led Force India, Racing Point, Aston Martin, and Alpine over two decades, told the High Performance podcast he misses the competitive fire but has "been there, done that" with the top job. He took a shot at the modern TP archetype: "It seems like nowadays the team principals are more ex-race engineers," arguing they lack the broader skill set the role demands.

Szafnauer's Alpine tenure ended after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. Before that, Aston Martin brought in Martin Whitmarsh as group CEO and stripped Szafnauer of eighty percent of his responsibilities within weeks. "You can't have two popes," he said. Now he co-hosts the High Performance podcast, runs Van Amersfoort Racing, and launched the EventR app. If a team needs someone to build rather than wrench, he's listening—just not from the pit wall.