A tough reckoning

“Unforgivable!” F1 change causes waves to rise

Alpine is in the spotlight in Formula 1.

(Bild: AP/Denes Erdos)

The French team Alpine is in the spotlight in Formula 1! Mercedes is repeatedly being touted as a future engine partner. Now an ex-employee is settling accounts with the racing team.

Five weeks after the appointment of Flavio Briatore as the team's chief advisor, Bruno Famin has announced his departure as Alpine team boss. The Frenchman announced his resignation at the end of August at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Renault works team Alpine is also on the verge of becoming a customer team due to the high financial outlay. Apparently a switch to Mercedes is in the offing.

Dejected and angry
"I am deeply saddened and upset by Alpine's recent decision to move away from Renault's F1 engines and towards Mercedes. As a former employee, this outcome hits me particularly hard," writes Pierre Chauty, the team's former legal manager, in an angry post on LinkedIn. "This situation is a direct result of the disastrous leadership of Luca de Meo, the CEO of the Renault Group. De Meo's failure to recognize and correct the mistakes made for more than two and a half years by Laurent Rossi (editor's note: had to leave as Alpine CEO a year ago) is unforgivable!"

A hard-hitting reckoning! "De Meo's lack of admission of his own mistakes and his poor judgment in installing Rossi in the first place have done considerable damage to Alpine and the entire Renault Group," says Chauty. "Speaking of cowardice, Laurent Rossi's tenure as CEO of Alpine is another example of weak leadership and a complete lack of humanity. He cut countless employees for purely political reasons, targeting in particular those he considered too close to the previous leadership." These apparently included Chauty ...