2023 represented a year of great changes for Alpine, with a revolution at a management and organizational level which led to the farewell of Otmar Szafnauer and the promotion of Bruno Famin, previously at the top of the Power Unit program after his experience at the FIA .
Initially Famin had been appointed as interim Team Principal, but the leaders of the French company decided to focus on stability, confirming him in the same role also for 2024. However, in the meantime Famin was also appointed Vice-President of the Motorsport section, the which made him responsible not only for the Formula 1 project, but also for Alpine's return to the top WEC category with the A424 LMDh.
An ambitious challenge, especially for a team that develops in two different structures, given that one headquarters is located in Viry-Chatillon in France and the other in Enstone in Great Britain. At the end of last year, Famin had indicated precisely how the collaborative relationship between the two plants represented one of those areas in which progress could be made.
Alpine A524
Photo by: Alpine
In order to concentrate on his role as Team Principal, Famin has therefore chosen to make changes to the organizational structure of the team, hiring new figures who will help him relieve himself of some tasks, including the management of the two offices. Taking care of the management of the Viry structure, where the Power Units are developed, will be Audrey Vastroux, who knows the Renault world very well having worked in the company for 18 years. On the contrary, supervising the work at Enstone will be James Woods, a figure external to the Formula 1 world but with long experience at Lotus Cars and McLaren Automotive.
“In the second half of the year we made changes, particularly to the way the trackside team operates, which led to immediate and tangible success. The goal is now to extend this dynamic to the entire Alpine team and to start 2024 on the right foot to guarantee high standards and maintain operational excellence,” explained Famin before introducing the two new figures.
“I really hope that these two COOs [Chief Operating Officer], in Enstone and Viry, represent a strong support both for me and for all those involved in the sector. Having someone always 100% on-site in Viry and someone always 100% on-site in Enstone will certainly help us in day-to-day operations, but also in developing improvements in our processes. With 24 races a year it's complicated to be away. It's good to have someone on site.”
Bruno Famin, vice president of Alpine Motorsports
Photo by: Alpine
In his role as Vice-President of Motorsport and Team Principal, in fact, Famin will have to follow the teams on the race fields around the world: after the F1 pre-season tests in Bahrain there will also be the WEC prologue in sequence in Qatar with the official debut of the A424 and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which is why it will remain away from its operational bases for over three weeks. Having someone in both Enstone and Viry will be a way to stay in constant contact with the two factories.
In Enstone, Woods will be responsible for managing a facility that is continually expanding, not only from a staff perspective, but also from a facilities perspective. In the last two years Alpine has in fact decided to continue investments by focusing on cutting-edge tools to strengthen itself: for example, the simulator currently in use is almost twenty years old, which is why it was decided to modernize this area in sight of 2026. At the time of Lotus the team had less than 500 employees in the British headquarters, but with the return of Renault and Alpine in an official capacity, the staff has increased considerably.
We wondered why the French company decided to entrust the role of COO of the Enstone factory to Woods, who has no experience in the world of Formula 1. However, according to Famin, having worked at Lotus Cars and McLaren in the Automotive sector they represent an important incentive, which will also help him to make more efficient decisions from the point of view of budget management.
“The COO position is a back office position,” Famin said of Woods when asked by Motorsport.com.
Aerial view of the Renault factory in Viry-Châtillon
Photo by: Renault
“We need someone who knows the operations. He's at Lotus Cars right now and for a long time he was at McLaren Automotive. He's a man who comes from the factory. This is what I need to run the factory. We have a director technical director and he will not interfere with the technical director, his role will be to give the technical director and the sporting director the means to work, following the budget, compliance and other aspects.”
“He is a very pragmatic man. He is not an F1 man, but we don't need an F1 man for this. Again, this is a desk job, and he has a lot of experience, he is very pragmatic and close to people. He's not afraid to make changes and will have a fresh vision of what we're doing.”
Woods worked at the Lotus group for 11 years starting in 2005 in various roles, including production manager. He was at McLaren Automotive as head of new model launches from 2016 to 2023, before returning to Lotus as production director in May last year.
A different choice compared to the one made for Viry, where Vastroux was promoted internally, having been in the team since 2006. After having held the role of test officer, the Frenchman rose through the ranks becoming head of the project management office and test director and operations.
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