Former Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer has issued a warning to General Motors ahead of their Formula 1 debut. Through an anecdote from his own career in the premier class, the former team boss hopes to alert the Americans to the immense difficulty of setting up a competitive Formula 1 team.
In late November, Formula 1 announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement with General Motors. As a result, the American car manufacturer will join the Formula 1 grid as the eleventh team with its subsidiary Cadillac in 2026. However, former Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer warns the Americans that setting up a successful Formula 1 team is far from easy.
“The only concern I would have if I were an executive at General Motors is underestimating the task of being competitive in Formula 1,” the former team boss tells Business of Winning. “It seems that people or organizations that have not been involved do not realize how difficult it is. I also did not realize how difficult it was.
Warning
Szafnauer hopes to issue a warning to General Motors through an example from his own career. The former team boss had a long career in Formula 1 before he had to leave Alpine midway through 2023. The Romanian-American entered F1 in 1999 with the British American Racing team. Szafnauer was convinced at the time that they would win their debut.
“I believed it because the skill level I saw before me was so much higher than what I had experienced,” the former team boss continues. “And I thought: these guys are definitely going to do it. Do you know how many points we scored in that first year? Zero.”
