Otmar Szafnauer officially took up his duties as CEO and managing partner of Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) on February 1st, as announced by the team, in order to pursue a rich career.
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The American manager, whose experience in Formula 1 is considerable after 25 years spent in the sport, is therefore returning to service as a partner of the Dutch structure VAR.
One might be surprised by such a choice, but in the absence of the opportunity to launch a twelfth team in the Grands Prix, Szafnauer undoubtedly preferred to take a step back to leap forward, guided by his passion for racing.
Return to the helm after Alpine
We had left Szafnauer in the summer of 2024, during his sudden departure from Alpine F1 Team on the sidelines of the Belgian Grand Prix. He was then one of the main faces of a particularly turbulent week for the Enstone structure, also marked by the departures of Laurent Rossi, Pat Fry and Alan Permane.
Since then, his appearances in the paddock had remained occasional. Now he is at the head of a team competing in the FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships, two support disciplines for Formula 1. VAR will also be on track this weekend in Melbourne as a curtain-raiser for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. Note the presence of Frenchman Enzo Deligny in F3 under the colors of the Dutch team.
An already stabilized structure
The press release states that after the retirement of the team’s founders Frits van Amersfoort and Rob Niessink, operational functions have been handled by Brad Joyce (team principal), supported by Klaudija Jakaj, Francisco Freitas and Anneleen Walch. Szafnauer will work in close collaboration with this management team to consolidate sporting performance and support the global strategy of VAR, also involved in FREC and Formula 4.
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The American manager stated: “Van Amersfoort Racing enjoys a strong reputation for talent development and high-level competition in several categories. I look forward to working in close collaboration with the management and the entire organization to guide the next phase of the team’s development.”
A career marked by F1
After stints at BAR and then Honda in the 1990s and 2000s, Szafnauer established himself from 2009 as one of the key leaders of Force India. He then accompanied the transformation of the Silverstone team under the identities of Racing Point and then Aston Martin F1 Team, following the takeover by Lawrence Stroll, before leaving the structure in early 2022.
Appointed a few weeks later as head of Alpine, his tenure was notably marked by the high-profile double departure in the summer of 2022: Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin and junior Oscar Piastri to McLaren, following a highly publicized contractual dispute. But under his leadership, the French team finished fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2022 before dropping to sixth in 2023.
With VAR, Szafnauer finds a structure of a more contained size, but strategically positioned at the heart of the junior formula pyramid, a key environment for influencing the training of the next generation of drivers.
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