The separation of Otmar Szafnauer from Aston Martin – with immediate effect – marks the first Formula 1 surprise story of the year 2022, even if there have been indications of a separation for a long time.
Here’s what our writers say about the team principal’s departure, and how it could affect F1’s fastest growing team.
Big loss – but there is a plausible replacement
Edd straw
Szafnauer’s departure is a huge loss for Aston Martin, regardless of the reasons. Not only was he an important part of the team’s underdog success in the days of Force India, but he also played a pivotal role in developing the team from the Stroll era.
He has a tremendous amount of Formula 1 experience, dating back to when he joined BAR in 1999, and has a balance of skills that are valuable when it comes to dealing with the technical, management, and ownership sides of an organization Grand Prix teams goes.
What is certain is that Szafnauer was often left alone to fight the concerns raised by Lawrence Stroll and that some of his public statements therefore seemed forced and atypical. Additionally, it became clear that the two were not fully aligned when Szafnauer declined that Aston Martin wanted to recruit a corporate CEO. Whitmarsh was announced five months later and those wheels had been in motion when Szafnauer denied it, but this was not an attempt to hide the truth – it simply reflected the fact that he had no idea this was happening.
Replacing Szafnauer’s experience and broad know-how is not easy. This is especially true on a team like Aston Martin, as the standards and expectations of ambitious, wealthy owners can risk becoming unrealistic. The Aston Martin team principal not only needs to be able to lead a fast-growing F1 team well, he also needs to be able to “get up”.
Szafnauer will easily find another role in Formula One, too valuable not to be. But it won’t be easy to replace him. One suggestion was an effective job swap with Marcin Budkowski, whose alpine future is uncertain.
But even though Budkowski has some of the necessary skills, his experience in team leadership is not that broad, despite being the de facto team principal at Alpine last year. However, if it’s a purer management role, with Whitmarsh taking care of the other aspects, it’s possible Budkowski, who has a technical background, in an overhauled role of team leader that is more on the management side of the team focused that could meet requirements.
So much has been done right on the Aston Martin Project, and the team has the potential to realize its lofty ambition to become a championship force. But with the choice of a successor for Szafnauer, she faces a decisive test, both in terms of identity and role structure.
Whitmarsh’s accession meant the end
Gary Anderson
I’m pretty sure Otmar’s position has been called into question since Martin Whitmarsh’s arrival. There’s only one place for one when it comes to overseeing the direction of such a company, especially since it’s now the face of Aston Martin. This is similar to Ford’s takeover of Stewart GP and its transformation into Jaguar. It was about pleasing people who have no idea what Formula 1 is about, and that’s a completely different challenge than developing a good car.
Lawrence Stroll doesn’t seem like a patient man and his team’s performance in 2021 was way below his expectations. Whitmarsh will have arrived from McLaren with all of his experience – which is the complete opposite of the Underdot team that Force India / Racing Point / Aston Martin hailed from – and I’m sure he was just too eager to tell Stroll like it goes it should be done.
It is the old adage, “You can’t make a silk bag out of a sow’s ear” – at least not overnight. But give him time and slowly work on the direction and it is possible, but I don’t see Mr. Stroll accept that. He wants results and he wants them now.
That shouldn’t be a trend
Glenn Freeman
Changing the fortunes of an F1 team is never the work of an instant, but I wondered if the shortcut to success this team enjoyed as Racing Point in 2020 with its Mercedes clone was the leap to earth as a Aston Martin creating in 2021 would be harder to take.
We do not know whether Szafnauer jumped or was pushed, although at least he did not work through any notice period due to the immediate departure. So, did he pay the price of the team’s break-in last year, or is he fed up with enduring the heat (internal or external) for the disappointment of 2021?
He certainly never looked particularly comfortable at the start of the year when he constantly had to front man for Aston Martin’s futile complaints that it was screwed up by last season’s aerodynamic rule changes. Mercedes, winning the constructors’ championship with the same vehicle concept, makes all the excitement seem even more wasted of time.
Aston Martin has created many of the right long-term conditions to become a top F1 team going forward. Perhaps this change will be seen as just another one of those wise steps in the years to come, regardless of who made it happen.
But let’s hope this isn’t the start of an owner trend of becoming trigger-happy every time expectations are not met.
Aston has to nail this next appointment
Scott Mitchell
That line in Aston Martin’s statement could be pretty telling: “We like to take a little time to explore options before announcing a new team structure.”
If so, it means that Aston Martin does not have a ready-made replacement available. That wouldn’t necessarily tell us why Otmar left, but it would mean Aston Martin is in a period of consciousness and that wouldn’t be a big surprise as no obvious candidates seem to be just waiting around.
Who comes next, their deadline is really important.
This project is at a delicate juncture with key people either arriving or on their way and an odd wait before the new factory is there. You might think of this as an easy time to jump in and catch up on the latest developments – but over the next 18 months, Aston Martin will be building an organization designed to win world championships.
This happens according to Stroll’s image, but is also decisively determined by the team boss. Aston Martin can’t afford someone who doesn’t “get it”. You have to be someone with a longer term vision that matches that of the company, and you have to be there long term to enforce it.
Then it comes down to whether what Stroll is doing to achieve his ambitions for the team is right or flawed. Szafnauer’s successor will bring that in one way or another.
Big shaking up can come in handy after 2021
Val Khorounzhiy
Szafnauer has been a key cog at Force India / Racing Point / Aston Martin for some really impressive periods and even if we assumed he doesn’t have an alpine spot yet, he shouldn’t have too much trouble in an F1 leadership role to stay.
But there’s also no escaping that Aston Martin’s 2021 was just a really bad year, either ruined by a surprisingly slow car or a slightly slower car whose shortcomings were made worse by what appeared to be a downgraded driver line-up – in Aston’s decision, this to discard its fastest driver in late 2020.
Given the disappointment in 2021 and the continued influx of new names, stability doesn’t seem to be of the essence, and while one could argue that Szafnauer shouldn’t have left because of this, I think it might well be the perfect time to start over .
As a side note, if Szafnau is Alpine-bound, it is worth considering whether this could bring Davide Brivio back towards MotoGP.
