Otmar Szafnauer jokes he would ‘never employ’ 11-time F1 race winner again after previous spell together

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Former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has worked with some of the most talented Formula 1 drivers in the current generation.

He started his career in F1 with BAR in 1998, before going on to work for the likes of Honda, Force India, Aston Martin and Alpine.

Otmar Szafnauer’s time with Alpine came to an end last year at the Belgian Grand Prix.

He was replaced by Bruno Famin who addressed Szafnauer’s exit on Drive to Survive before following him out of the F1 program at the same race this year.

While Szafnauer is still on the outside of the Formula 1 world, he discussed his time in the sport on the High Performance Podcast with Jake Humphrey.

Szafnauer shared how Alpine managed to lose out on Oscar Piastri and why Lawrence Stroll was so surprised when he visited the Force India factory.

He’s seen an awful lot of the good and bad of Formula 1 but the drivers he’s worked with won’t be one of the negatives that Szafnauer looks back on with any regrets.

Humphrey asked Szafnauer if there was a driver that he wouldn’t employ again.

While he didn’t give a serious answer, he joked that he wouldn’t hire 11-time race winner Rubens Barrichello again.

READ MORE: Rubens Barrichello tells F1 hopeful Gabriel Bortoleto what he wants to see him do ‘as soon as possible’

Not because of his talent – as Barrichello is still racing right now – but due to his advancing age.

Otmar Szafnauer jokes he wouldn’t employ Rubens Barrichello again

Szafnauer was asked if there was one driver he would never employ again and said: “I’ve got to get this right, who’s the oldest again?”

Humphrey then suggests Fernando Alonso currently on the grid, before Szafnauer continues: “I worked with Rubens. Oh my goodness. He’s so old I never employ him again.”

It’s suggested that this answer is a cop-out, but Szafnauer then goes on to tell the story of how precise the Brazilian was in the car.

“He came to, Honda, we were BAR-Honda at the time,” Szafnauer said, “and we were testing somewhere.

READ MORE: F1 designer would have ‘probably’ fought Eddie Jordan to keep Rubens Barrichello from joining McLaren

“Rubens came in and he said, the tyre’s moving on the rim, under braking, the tyre’s moving.

“You can’t feel that, number one and number two, the grip would go before the tyre sealed to the rim goes and he was adamant.

“I’m telling you, the tyre’s moving on the rim. So we marked the tyre to the rim.

“It moved that much. Sure enough, he could feel it. I could not believe it.

“And it wasn’t moving like 180 degrees. It was moving a couple of degrees and he could feel it.”

Rubens Barrichello was one of Formula 1’s greatest teammates

Barrichello is 52 years old now, but he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Alongside his son Dudu, Barrichello is still racing in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, which is currently being led by Felipe Massa.

Former F1 stars Ricardo Zonta and Nelson Piquet Jr. are also in the series and Barrichello was on the podium at the last round in Belo Horizonte.

Barrichello started his F1 career with Jordan and impressed to such an extent that he earned a move to Stewart in 1997.

From there, he made his iconic move to Ferrari, where he supported Michael Schumacher on his way to five consecutive Drivers’ Championships.

He then spent several seasons with Honda, where he worked with Szafnauer before playing second fiddle to a champion again, this time Jenson Button at Brawn.

He finished his career with Williams and is fondly remembered for his time in Formula 1, even if Szafnauer wouldn’t take a punt on him for the 2025 season if he was suddenly in charge of a team.