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Former Force India, Aston Martin and Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer says he remains open to returning to Formula 1, but a second act in the paddock would not necessarily involve taking another team principal position.
Szafnauer spent more than a decade leading the Silverstone-based operation through its Force India and Racing Point eras before moving to Aston Martin and later becoming Alpine’s team principal. Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast, he said he still misses Formula 1’s competitive environment, even if he has little appetite for the demands that come with constant travel.
“It does fulfil a lot,” Szafnauer said of his podcast work. “But what I miss is the competitive nature of Formula 1. What I don't miss is the travel and some of the other stuff.”
His interest, therefore, is focused on finding a role in which his experience can have a meaningful effect rather than simply returning for the title. Szafnauer said he would consider an opportunity to improve or build a team, provided it was at the right level and allowed him to add value.
“Not necessarily team principal because I've been there, done that,” he explained. “And it seems like nowadays the team principals are more ex-race engineers.”
Szafnauer also questioned whether experience as a race engineer automatically provides all the skills needed to lead a successful Formula 1 organisation. He stressed that his comments did not apply to every engineer, but argued that the demands of the team principal role can require a different combination of abilities.
The leadership question is particularly relevant to Alpine, where Szafnauer’s former team remains the subject of continued scrutiny. Our Alpine 2026 half-season report examines the team’s progress, lost momentum and fight with Racing Bulls.
Reflecting on his departure from Aston Martin after Martin Whitmarsh arrived as group CEO, Szafnauer warned against overlapping authority. He said he had been both CEO and team principal before Whitmarsh took most of those responsibilities within weeks.
“He said, ‘You can do this 20% stuff at the track,’ and I'm thinking you can't have two popes,” Szafnauer recalled.
Since leaving Alpine after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, he has joined Jake Humphrey and Rob Smedley on the podcast, become CEO of Van Amersfoort Racing and launched the EventR app. His comments suggest that, if Formula 1 calls again, the key issue will be finding a structure in which responsibility is clear and his experience is used effectively.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.