In the midst of the off-season, an official statement arrives that is destined to shake up the Formula 1 paddock and the market for engineers / managers of the various teams. In fact, Alpine has formalized its separation from the Polish team principal Marcin Budkowski. The 44-year-old from Warsaw joined the Renault group at the end of 2017, following his separation from the Federation, in which he had worked for several seasons as head of the technical department. At the very beginning of 2021 Budkowski was put in charge of the F1 team – renamed Alpine – taking the place of the outgoing Cyril Abiteboul. However, the good results achieved this year by the Enstone team were obviously not enough to guarantee him a confirmation in the transalpine team.
The farewell of the Pole – who between 2002 and 2007 had also worked in Ferrari, in the height of the golden years of the Todt-Schumacher-Brawn trio – is part of a broad process of revolution within the French team and strongly desired by the CEO of Renault, Luca De Meo. Regarding the possible replacement for Budkowski, it is still too early to be certain. Clearly, the first name that comes to mind is that of Otmar Szafnauer, who has just got rid of the Aston Martin and already during the last season he was approached for a long time with the team from across the Alps. But nothing is taken for granted, at least at the moment. The place of the Pole in the meantime – in this transition phase – will be occupied by the CEO. by Alpine Laurent Rossi.
Even less certain is what Budkowski’s future will be. The presence of the former free FIA man on the market is clearly a intriguing mouthful that can appeal to many, but the Warsaw engineer himself will have to carefully consider his next steps, presumably on the basis of what will be the next balance of power ‘sanctioned’ by the new technical regulation. Below we report the short press release released by the French team: “Alpine F1 Team and Marcin Budkowski, Executive Director of Alpine F1 Team, today announced their decision to end their partnership starting January 13, 2022. Laurent Rossi will temporarily ensure team management to allow everyone to focus on preparing for the next season”.
Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, said: “I would like to thank Marcin Budkowski for his commitment and his contribution to the team’s results over the past four years. The team is fully focused on preparing the car for the first race in Bahrain and marking a step forward in performance“. “I really enjoyed being part of the Renault then Alpine team – commented Budkowski – working with such a talented and dedicated group of people. I will look with affection on the progress of the team in the seasons to come ”.
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