Szafnauer 'as surprised as anybody else' about Alpine rumors

Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer says he was "as surprised as anybody else" about the speculation that emerged earlier this week over a potential move to the Alpine team.

The rumor mill was in overdrive earlier this week following reports in the media that Szafnauer had "agreed in principle" to join Alpine in the future.

The American took to Instagram on Friday to deny the whirlwind of speculation and the "spiral of misinformation" conveyed by the media.

Friday's FIA presser with F1's team bosses offered the perfect opportunity to query Szafnauer on the rumors and a chance for the Aston team principal to set the record straight, insisting he was "as surprised as anybody" by the hearsay.

"It's always humbling and flattering to say if Alpine are reorganising, I think [Alpine CEO] Laurent Rossi said that in Mexico, for the media to speculate that I could be wanted there," Szafnauer said. "It's always nice to be wanted."

"I've been at the team for 12 years, I have no intention of leaving," added Szafnauer, who has been with Team Silverstone since 2009.

"I love this team. Most of the senior managers, especially through Racing Point, the senior leadership team was recruited and put there by myself, and I have no intentions of leaving them.

"I've been loyal to this team. I've had many, many offers in the 12 years that I've been working for this team, especially in the days of the bankruptcy and insolvency.

"I could have left many times, but I'm loyal to the employees there."

• Read also: Szafnauer dismisses Alpine rumors as 'pure speculation'

Oddly, while handed an opportunity on Friday to emphatically deny that he had held talks with Alpine, Szafnauer did not do so, and offered a reply that was a tad evasive.

"I learned a long, long time ago that predicting the future is an impossibility. And if I could do that, I would be in Vegas now."

Szafnauer, who said that he has a long-term contract with Aston Martin, then stated that "many, many teams" had contacted him about a possible job opportunity.

He also suggested that a press conference earlier this year and a tongue-and-cheek comment by Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi may have triggered this week's chatter.

"I think it was, I was sitting next to Laurent Rossi when [the Daily Mail's Jonathan] McEvoy asked if Aston Martin were recruiting a CEO to take my job, and I knew nothing of that," Szafnauer said.

"Jokingly, Rossi said, 'ah, if you're leaving, come talk to us', and that was about it. I don't know if that's what sparked the Auto Hebdo article."

"Like I said, I'm fully committed to the team I'm in. I've been there forever. I have no intentions of leaving.

"I've got to focus on the rest of the season. The season hasn't gone quite to what we thought it was going to, how it was going to go."

Finally, the 57-year-old team boss said that he had not discussed the most recent Alpine buzz with Aston team owner Lawrence Stroll.

"We haven't talked about rumours," Szafnauer said. "There's lots of stuff that goes on in the media that we don't talk about."

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