Who can replace Otmar Szafnauer at Aston Martin F1?

Feature image credit: Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One team

Who can replace Otmar Szafnauer at Aston Martin F1?

Otmar Szafnauer has left the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 team earlier this week but this now begs the question; who can replace him?

Despite a good run in 2020, then Racing Point, where the Silverstone-based outfit fought McLaren for P3 in the constructors standings, fortunes changed last year as Aston plummeted to seventh in the constructors.

The team principle seat remains vacant in Aston Martin but, billionaire and executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll has a few options to fulfil that position:

Executive Chairman & Team Principle

One of the first options Mr. Stroll could do to fulfil his vacant seat is: appoint himself as the team principle.

Stroll is regularly seen inside the F1 paddock, as a result of his F1 team and son; Lance Stroll – who drives for Aston Martin. As a result, this would put himself in an ideal position to look after his business instead of leaving it to the internal structure.

The only problem would lie in his lack of experience on the pit wall – which was previously taken up by Szafnauer. However, he could take up a behind-the-scenes position similar to Toto Wolff at Mercedes-AMG Petronas, who runs as the teams Chair Executive Officer and team principle.

Headhunting

In another option, Stroll could venture down the route of experienced team principles. It isn’t a surprise that this could be a likely move at Aston due to their recent businesses dealings: headhunting different members of staff in other F1 teams.

However, there is one man who is available and has no connections to any of the teams on the grid: Cyril Abiteboul.

The French engineer has the experience under his belt to effectively lead a midfield team. During his Renault days, he managed to keep the team within the top five from 2018 to 2020, occasionally finishing the season fourth in the constructors despite a shaky start in 2016.

It’s not clear if Abiteboul will return to Formula One but it could turn out to be a good option for Stroll.

Chief Technical Officer promotion

The final option, in this list, would be to promote a member of his F1 team up to the position. One key member of his staff, Andrew Green, could be a good choice.

Green started his career in F1 with Jordan Grand Prix in 1990. He then went on to move to the Silverstone outfit, previously known as Force India in 2010 then Racing Point as the technical director. It wasn’t until 2021 when Green was promoted to Chief Technical Officer at Aston Martin.

Promoting Green into a team principle position, from his high ranking position, isn’t uncommon in the sport. Scuderia Ferrari’s team principle, Mattia Binotto, took over as CTO at Ferrari in 2016 and nearly three years later he was promoted to team principle.

That’s it for the article: ‘Who can replace Otmar Szafnauer at Aston Martin F1?’ Who do you think will take up the team principle position at Aston Martin? Let us know in the comments!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.