Alpine F1 Team’s Szafnauer Expresses Disappointment and Determination After Challenging Austrian GP

The BWT Alpine F1 Team experienced a challenging Austrian Grand Prix weekend at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring, leaving Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer expressing disappointment with the team’s performance. Despite scoring one point over the weekend, Szafnauer acknowledged the areas where they fell short, particularly in their ability to compete with close rivals on race day who currently maintain a slight advantage of a couple of tenths of a second.

“We are not satisfied to leave Austria with one point across the weekend. This end result highlights where we are lacking, especially in terms of being able to fight with our close rivals on race day who, right now, are a couple of tenths of a second ahead of us,” stated Szafnauer.

Looking ahead to the next race at Silverstone, Szafnauer revealed that the team is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to introduce an upgraded car. This upgrade is expected to enhance the team’s performance and contribute to a stronger showing in the upcoming races.

“Next week is Silverstone where we will have an upgrade on the car and we look forward to adding more performance in the coming races,” Szafnauer added optimistically.

However, the Austrian Grand Prix weekend was marred by a tragic incident. Dilano van ‘t Hoff, a participant in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Spa-Francorchamps, lost his life.

“This weekend was sadly marred by the tragic death of Dilano van ‘t Hoff in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in Spa-Francorchamps. Dilano will always be in our thoughts and it serves as a reminder of the dangers we face in the sport we love. There are many discussions to be had in our collective goal to further enhance safety in racing. Right now, though, our thoughts are firmly with the family and friends of Dilano as well as the MP Motorsport team,” expressed Szafnauer.