After the axing of their Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine is left without a permanent Team Principal. Subsequently, rumors of Mattia Binotto replacing Szafnauer have surfaced. But the bigger problem that they have is that their car is much slower compared to the rest of the grid. And their plea of getting a special exemption for matching their rivals’ performance has been shot down by Ferrari.

Last week, the F1 commission agreed that Alpine’s Power Unit was 22 to 30 hp lower than others. To find a solution, Renault (rebranded as Alpine) asked the FIA for a higher-than-allowed fuel flow to compensate for the lack of Power. But Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff had disagreed with this plea. And now, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, the man who has replaced Binotto has strongly opposed Renault’s ask.

Vasseur said, as quoted by Motorsport.Nextgen-Auto, “When we stopped the development of the engines, we agreed that those who seemed too late would receive support in exceptional circumstances. However, I’m not sure Renault meets these conditions.” [translated via Google]

The Renault PU used by Alpine has been one of the most unreliable ones across the F1 grid besides Ferrari. While the Italian team seems to have controlled its reliability problems under Vasseur in 2023, the French team seems struggling with a huge deficit in terms of performance & reliability as well.

4 Days After Alpine Broke Honorable Promise, Otmar Szafnauer Left ‘Worried’ Amid Emotional State of Affairs

Alpine is in quite a fix. After major layoffs and shuffling of senior management, getting an experienced man like Binotto on board could help them. And a former British racer feels that Binotto’s return is not out of the question.

Martin Brundle Believes Mattia Binotto Joining Alpine as Team Principal Is Still On the Table

Replacing Szafnauer, Bruno Famin, Vice President of Alpine Motorsports, has taken over the role of Interim Team Principal. But for 2024, the spot is still open and Alpine might be actively looking for a better person to lead the team. And Mattia Binotto’s garden leave ends before 2024. So, Sky Sports presenter, Martin Brundle believes that those rumors could come true.

“It’s not out of the question,” said Brundle as quoted by Mirror. “Binotto has got a lot of experience, obviously in the Ferrari system, and knows about running a Formula 1 team. Obviously, it didn’t work out for him at Ferrari otherwise he’d still be there. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that was announced, no.

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Binotto has been spotted in the paddock once at Silverstone this year. Do you think he can find a permanent place in F1 in 2024?

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