Aston Martin seems to have found Szafnauer's successor already
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Aston Martin have been in the news a lot on Wednesday 5 January 2022. The day started with the departure of team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who could be joining Alpine, and then news came out that one of the major sponsors, BWT, appears to have left. Could there possibly be a third news event to follow?
No surprise
The departure of Szafnauer undoubtedly does not come as a big surprise to Aston Martin. For weeks there have been rumours that the American would leave, with Alpine being touted as his new destination. Although Szafnauer denied everything in the media, internally the alarm bells have undoubtedly been ringing for a while.
Co-owner Lawrence Stroll certainly started thinking about a suitable successor a while back, in case Szafnauer dropped his resignation letter on the Canadian's desk. The most prominent candidate might well already be in Aston Martin's hands, according to the German Auto, Motor und Sport. According to the medium, Martin Whitmarsh is in the picture to fill the vacant seat.
Experience and qualities
The 63-year-old only joined the Aston Martin racing team last season, and the Briton is best known for his time at McLaren, where he was the team boss from 2009 to 2013. Whitmarsh has the experience and qualities to fill the role left by Szafnauer.