"Simply unacceptable"

“Embarrassing!” F1 legend appalled by THIS team

He has always been a man of few words and he still is today: Eddie Jordan is once again causing a stir in the Formula 1 circus! The now 75-year-old Irishman, whose Jordan team was active in the premier class of motorsport between 1991 and 2005, has nothing good to say about the Alpine team, which is performing disgracefully badly in the still young 2024 season. "At the moment, they are the team in the biggest crisis. They are absolutely embarrassing!" 

His time as team principal may have been over for a few years now, but Jordan is still close to the pulse of the Formula 1 world. So it is hardly surprising that he has now joined David Coulthard on the "Formula For Success" podcast to talk about the decline of Renault subsidiary Alpine. Current drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have shown in the past that "they are capable of winning races", said Jordan.

But Alpine had not been able to "give the drivers a car with which they can compete in the Formula 1 World Championship. That is simply unacceptable". Unacceptable - but not necessarily completely surprising for Jordan, because according to the co-discoverer of legend Michael Schumacher, the team has simply made too many mistakes since last summer.

Particularly in the personnel sector, starting with the replacement of Managing Director/CEO Laurent Rossi, followed by the departure of Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer as well as Sports Director Alan Permane, Technical Director Pat Fry and Technical Director Matt Harman.

Too much bloodletting for Jordan, especially the departure of the "talented" 59-year-old Szafnauer, previously with Honda and Aston Martin, among others, will be regretted by Alpine. If the team continues to exist at all in this form, which the Irishman doubts: "I think a sale is very possible," says Jordan about the potentially excessive frustration of Alpine's parent company Renault ...