A year later, Spa still represents the crossroads of the Alpine season. Exactly twelve months ago, in fact, on the weekend of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, the announcement came that Otmar Szafnauer was leaving the French team, with an adventure that lasted just over a season and a half.
Twelve months later, history repeats itself, as another changing of the guard arrives at Spa at Alpine. As anticipated on Thursday in the pages of Motorsport.com, Bruno Famin will step down as Alpine Team Principal at the end of August, focusing solely on the Renault Group’s other motorsport activities at Viry-Chatillon.
Famin was originally hired by Alpine as engine division supervisor in early 2022, before becoming vice president of motorsport and then interim team principal in mid-2023, replacing Otmar Szafnauer when the latter left the role.
The French engineer was then confirmed in the role of Team Principal for the 2024 season but, behind the scenes, there was much speculation about a possible reorganization of the team, leading to the announcement of the team, confirmed at the same time by Famin himself in a press conference.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Alpine
In the statement released by the team, in fact, not only is the Frenchman’s farewell to the role of Team Principal announced, but also his future role, which will still allow him to remain within the group: “Alpine F1 Team can confirm that Bruno Famin will leave his current role as Team Principal of the F1 division by the end of August”.
“Bruno will be responsible for all other Groupe Renault motorsport activities at Viry-Chatillon. A new team principal will be announced in due course,” the statement read.
However, Famin has not announced the name of his replacement, although it is assumed that his place at the helm of the French team will be taken by Oliver Oakes, currently responsible for the Hitech teams in Formula 2 and Formula 3. The choice, therefore, would fall on a profile that already has experience in that role, albeit in smaller realities than a Formula 1 team.
During the press conference, Famin also confirmed that from 2026, Alpine will abandon the Renault Power Unit to become a customer of another manufacturer.
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