Otmar Szafnauer is now ‘top of the list’ to potentially buy 101-race F1 team amid future uncertainty

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Otmar Szafnauer is looking to get back into Formula 1 after leaving the sport midway through the 2023 season.

The former team principal played an integral role in building Force India up from backmarkers to a regular in the midfield. Szafnauer once threatened Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon with penalties as the pair could not start races next to each other due to their feud as teammates.

The American would get to work with Ocon again when he became team principal of Alpine in 2022. But the team would end up in chaos on and off the track, with the 60-year-old leaving the team midway through 2023.

Szafnauer felt some Alpine staff were ‘untrustworthy’ due to the handling of Oscar Piastri’s infamous departure to McLaren. As the team struggles in 2025, the American is looking to get back onto the grid.

Otmar Szafnauer is ‘top of the list’ to potentially buy Alpine

Things have only deteriorated for Alpine since Szafnauer’s exit, as the team have regressed to the bottom of the standings in 2025. Pierre Gasly has scored all 11 of the Enstone outfit’s points so far, while Jack Doohan was dropped after six races due to multiple crashes and no points scored.

Franco Colapinto has fared no better as he struggles to find performance in the A525. Several key figures leaving the team have not helped matters, with team principal Oliver Oakes and Renault CEO Luca de Meo resigning during the season.

It has left the Enstone squad in serious uncertainty as the 2026 F1 regulations fast approach. There have been rumours that the team could be sold, but according to a report from Auto Motor und Sport, it will take a sizeable fee for a sale to happen.

American investor group Otro Capital owns 24% of Alpine, with them needing ‘at least $1 billion’ (roughly £736 million) to buy the rest of the shares. Szafnauer is ‘top of the list’ of interested consortia to potentially purchase Alpine.

The former team principal has stated that he has a party ready to put together a bid for a 12th entry to F1. But now, he could emerge as a candidate to buy his former employers, who have competed in 101 Grand Prix since their rebrand from Renault in 2021.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

What does Alpine’s F1 future look like after Luca de Meo’s exit?

The Enstone outfit are in desperate need of stability heading into 2026. Alpine will become a Mercedes customer team after shutting down their factory at Viry-Chatillon.

This has prompted speculation that the team could be sold. Flavio Briatore has told Alpine staff that Renault are committed to F1 and that de Meo’s exit will not affect that support.

But rumours are still swirling around the team’s future, with even Briatore’s position being placed in doubt, as it was de Meo who brought him back to F1. Alpine’s next CEO may not want to keep them in F1, adding more fuel to the fire of a potential sale.

Former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul could bring Hyundai to F1 and take over Alpine. Whatever the case, the Enstone outfit will be desperate to find clarity on the situation as they try to lift themselves from the back of the grid.