From Force India to Racing Point and Aston Martin
Although the team that lined up for the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix was still nominally called Force India, it was a very different entity from its predecessor. For one thing, it was stripped of the points that it had picked up in the first 12 races of the season to date - otherwise it would have finished the season challenging Renault for fourth place in the standings, which would have been a startling achievement in the circumstances. For another, Mallya and Fernley were no longer part of the management set-up and the twin roles of team principal and chief executive officer were now taken by Szafnauer himself.
Even after assuming the new name of Racing Point at the start of 2019, it was clear that the near-death experience had left deep scars on the squad. The period of enforced savage cost-cutting had curtailed all but the most essential research and development. But with the Stroll-led consortium now able to inject more money into the team, Szafnauer's attention was soon able to turn from disaster management and sheer survival to rapid recovery and rebuilding, as he aimed to put the team back on track to be future title challengers.
Fourth place in the Covid-hit 2020 season - thanks to an audacious switch in car design strategy to field a controversial but hugely effective 'Pink Mercedes' chassis - set the squad up for a second rebranding in 2021 when it became the Aston Martin works team after Stroll's acquisition of the luxury carmaker. The team signed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as its lead driver alongside Stroll's son Lance, although it meant that Sergio Perez - whose action putting the team into administration in 2018 had saved it from total collapse - was cast out. Then again, given that it resulted in Perez being offered a prestigious new seat at Red Bull, it's quite possible the Mexican will be sending Szafnauer a 'thank you' card for years to come!
Despite a disappointing 2021 season due in part to late-notice FIA rule changes reducing the effectiveness of cars utilising low-rake aerodynamic floors such as those favoured by Aston Martin and Mercedes coupled, with a freeze in chassis architecture due to the Covid pandemic, the team's plans for a new factory and state of the art development facilities at Silverstone are back on course. Most assumed that Szafnauer would continue to be a crucial part of it all. And then at the start of 2022 came the news that the 57-year-old was leaving the team that had been his F1 home for over a decade with immediate effect.
It's hard enough to imagine the squad without Szafnauer, and altogether impossible to picture the F1 paddock as a whole without his quietly commanding presence. It's not yet clear who will take over the running of the team on a day-to-day basis - former McLaren F1 boss Martin Whitmarsh became Group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies late last year, but it was stated at the time that there was no intention for him to be involved in the detailed operation of the F1 team - nor what Szafnauer himself might opt to do next. Speculation is fife and little of it informed by actual facts, but we hope that whatever his next job is it continues to keep him close to the sport that he's loved and lived ever since he was a young boy.
©AstonMartin
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
