Szafnauer does not rule out departure of Alonso is a setup

Alonso reacted very quickly to Sebastian Vettel' s departure from Aston Martin by taking over the vacant seat there. Alpine was surprised by the Spaniard's sudden departure and announced that Piastri would join the team next year. This was a one-sided deal, as the young Australian said he knew nothing about it. It is reported that Piastri just signed a contract with McLaren, leaving Alpine empty handed. Alpine feels cheated by Alonso and Piastri and the team boss does not exclude that information was exchanged.

Szafnauer doesn't quite trust it

With this, Szafnauer feeds the rumours that Flavio Briatore and Webber also had a hand in the recent events in F1. Szafnauer tells Spain's El Comercial: "Look, I have no proof of it, but this is Formula 1 and maybe in a few years somebody will suddenly say they have proof that information was shared. It would not surprise me. I always tell everybody that in F1 you have to act like everybody knows everything already and there are no secrets." Szafnauer says he has been working that way for 25 years to minimise surprises. The departure of Alonso, however, was a big surprise. The team boss says again, "If this [the exchange of information] really happened, I would not be surprised by that."