Rob White, vice-administrative director of Renault Sport F1, during the 2015 Formula 1 Championship in Melbourne, Australia. Photo DPPI / Eric Vargiolu.
White had held the position since 2016, after his stint at Renault twenty years ago, when they competed for championships with Spanish driver Fernando Alonso. According to the BBC, team director Bruno Famin fired the British man, informing the Enstone factory team on Wednesday.
An Alpine representative confirmed: “As part of the team’s broader operational restructuring, we can confirm that Rob White has left. The team acknowledges Rob’s contributions throughout his extensive career in Enstone and Viry-Chatillon, where he oversaw the engine project that won championships in 2005 and 2006. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Alpine has only accumulated two points in eight races this season and currently sits in ninth place among the ten teams in the standings, a drop from sixth place in 2023 and fourth place in 2022.
During their most recent race in Monte Carlo, French drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided on the first lap. Gasly was lucky to continue and ended up securing a point. Both drivers’ contracts expire at the end of the season. [It is not clear if the incident at the start of the Monaco GP played a role in their separation.]
Alpine recently hired David Sanchez, who previously worked at Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren, as their executive technical director and hinted at more new arrivals in the near future.
Meanwhile, several well-known names have left Alpine and joined rival teams. Chief Otmar Szafnauer is currently on paid leave after his departure in the middle of 2023, while Sporting Director Alan Permane and Chief Technical Director Pat Fry left at the same time. Permane now serves as Sporting Director at RB, owned by Red Bull, and Fry holds the position of Chief Technical Director at Williams.
Former Racing Director Davide Brivio left at the end of December to return to MotoGP, while Technical Director Matt Harman and Aerodynamics Chief Dirk de Beer left in March.
Another team veteran, former Renault Technical Director Bob Bell, who had recently held a consulting role, also left the team in March and joined Aston Martin as their Executive Technical Director. (Reported by Alan Baldwin); Additional quotes from Agnes Carlier)
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