Alpine details F1 team's dual-headed management structure

The Alpine F1 Team will be managed by a dual-headed structure rather than by a single team principal, an uncommon format explained by company boss Laurent Rossi.

The surprising exit in January of Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul led to a management shake-up of the rebranded Alpine team

Abiteboul was initially expected to take on a more senior role, but instead the Frenchman departed the company altogether.

Rossi, Renault's director of strategy and business development, now leads Alpine cars while responsibility for the F1 team's running has been entrusted to executive director Marcin Budkowski flanked by racing director Davide Brivio.

While complimentary, the two men will have distinct duties within Alpine F1's management structure.

"Marcin will be in charge of the development of the chassis and the powertrain, so he'll coordinate the whole development of the car," explained Rossi. "Davide will be racing director.

"So the two of them will work in tandem to extract the best out of the car that has been designed to put us into the best position in the future.

"The rest of the team are keeping their existing line structures: to Marcin in Enstone or to myself in Viry.

"It is a bit of a different situation because it's a new manufacturer if you will, but besides those two lines that I said, the rest stays like it was last year."

Indeed, delegating responsibility and authority to a dual-headed management rather than to a single head figure contrasts with the typical mainframe encountered at most teams.

The format could result in divergences leading to conflict or gridlock regarding crucial operational decisions.

But Budkowksi believes a clear designation of everyone's role and responsibilities will serve the Enstone squad's interests. And the structure will also allow Budkowski to remain at Enstone when required to oversee Alpine's crucial preparations for 2022.

"We went for a slightly different structure than the conventional team structure," he said. "At the end of the day the roles and the responsibilities are clear. It's just we are calling them a little bit differently.

"We're a French team at the end, and we had to put a bit of a French touch in the organisational structure as well!"

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"Managing a team and going to all races is very, very difficult," he added. "For me, it’s personally great to have Davide on board, apart from all the skills he brings from his other motorsport experiences. It means I won’t have to go to all the races.

"It means I will probably do the majority of them, but probably start skipping a few in the second half of the season.

"We have somebody in Davide who has got a lot of trackside experience, a lot of soft skills, acquired as a team manager in other categories.

"He knows how to manage drivers, he knows how to motivate them, he knows how to organise a garage.

"It’s going to be a great contribution to have him there, and we can share the role and really make sure that we don’t leave anything without the attention that it requires."

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