Piastri was famously announced as the replacement for Fernando Alonso in August 2022 via a press release that contained no quotes from the young Australian.
It was followed by a social media post in which Piastri declared that he would not be racing for Alpine in 2023.
A protracted battle then ensued over his services that was ultimately resolved by the Contract Recognition Board in McLaren’s favour.
The situation painted Alpine in a poor light, highlighting incompetence within the organisation.
Much of that reflected on Szafnauer, who has claimed he was made the fall guy for a situation that happened prior to his arrival at the squad.
Szafnauer arrived at Alpine as team principal in March 2022, having parted ways with Aston Martin following the arrival of Martin Whitmarsh.
Upon arrival, the American faced an organisation with different reporting lines to what was initially sold to him.
“I didn’t have control over the entire team,” he told the High Performance Podcast.
“HR didn’t report to me, reported up through France. The finance office didn’t report to me, reported up through France. The communications department didn’t report to me, and the marketing group, commercial, didn’t report to me.
“That in itself I knew was going to be problematic.”
Without control of HR, he emphasised that he had nothing to do with Piastri’s contract saga.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with not signing Oscar Piastri correctly,” Szafnauer asserted.
“That mistake was made in November. I started in March.
“So in November, the Piastri contract was meant to be signed. It was never signed… they didn’t submit the SRB documents correctly and never signed a contract.
“There was a contract after he finished his F2 career where Alpine had an option on Oscar Piastri as a Formula 1 driver for Alpine,” he added.
“That contract was never executed.
“In November, there’s a two-week time window where it could have been done and it wasn’t.”
Piastri was a member of the Alpine Academy having won the Formula Renault, Formula 3, and Formula 2 titles in successive years.
However, off the back of his title-winning F2 campaign, there was no seat available for the Australian who was forced to sit out the 2022 campaign.
It was thought the team held an option over the young Melburnian for the future but according to the Contract Recognition Board judgement, obtained by Speedcafe, Alpine had not submitted a signed contract.
Instead, is revealed that “The envelope marked ‘Contract’ contained a document headed ‘2020/2023 Terms Sheet’ dated 15 November 20201. In the top left-hand corner of the document appeared to the legend ‘Subject to Contract’.
“The Terms Sheet primarily referred to Mr Piastri’s role as reserve driver for Alpine’s F1 team for the 2022 season. But there was also a reference to the 2023 season as an F1 driver and an option to extend for the 2024 season.
“The Terms Sheet was not signed by either Alpine or Mr Piastri. Nor was any attempt made to register it with the Board simultaneously as required by Article 6.3 of Schedule 9 [of the Concorde Agreement].”
It essentially meant Alpine had no contract when Piastri, while McLaren had submitted its paperwork correctly on 6 July 2022, having been signed two days earlier.
While not involved in the mismanagement of Piastri’s contract, Szafnauer was critical of the Australian and McLaren boss Zak Brown at the time.
“Although we didn’t sign, they didn’t sign the contract in time, what was in the contract we delivered to Oscar, and that was not insignificant,” Szafnauer argued.
“It was 5000 kilometres of testing in a two-year-old car, that costs you a lot of money, and we did that.
“We absolutely did everything that was meant to be done by that contract that was never signed.
“In English law, had we taken it to an English court, maybe we would have won, you know. That’s unjust enrichment – you didn’t sign the contract but you took all this and you’re not delivering what you’re supposed to deliver.”
Under the Concorde Agreement, teams are forced to accept the Contract Recognition Board as the arbitrator on contractual matters – a point that has never been legally tested.
As such, it was ruled that Piastri was free to join McLaren while Szafnauer was, in his opinion, made out to be the fall guy.
“Come the CRB, where Alpine lost because the filings were incorrectly done, we put out a press release, and the press release has my image on it.
“So, number one, nothing to do with me; I wasn’t even there. But number two, the communications department that didn’t report to me thought it was a good idea to deflect the incompetency of those that were Alpine at the time by putting my picture on the release.
“The lady who actually put the picture on, Lucy Geynon, worked for me at Force India,” Szafnauer continued.
“I went to Lucy and I said ‘Lucy, you know better than this’, she said ‘I’m sorry. I was told to do this’.
“It just showed at the time that there are some people within the Alpine organisation that were untrustworthy and that were out to get me.”
Szafnauer’s tenure at Alpine lasted only another year before he was axed over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, together with sporting director Alan Permane.
The American learned of his impending doom a few days earlier via a Zoom call with Renault Group’s head of HR.
Even after the Piastri saga, where he was made the scapegoat, and realisation that he did not have the authority he’d signed up for, Szafnauer was committed to the role.
“I had a contract. I want to do the best I can for my team,” he insisted.
“I’m still working hard, I’m still delivering relative to today.
“We were sixth in that championship, but we had a couple of podiums. We’re scoring points regularly. It wasn’t a disaster, we’re in the midfield.
“It’s not like today. I don’t know where they are today—ninth or something in the championship. Today, it’s a disaster.”
Following Szafnauer’s exit, Bruno Famin was appointed team principal, a role he relinquished over the F1 summer break.
Laurent Rossi, who joined the squad in 2021, was replaced as CEO in July 2023.
Oliver Oakes is now at the helm, supported by controversial consultant Flavio Briatore.
The broader team is also undergoing a transformation with confirmation Renault will stop producing F1 power units at the end of next season – a move anticipated by Speedcafe in May.
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