Szafnauer: Alonso and Vettel are ‘very similar’ to work with

Having worked with both drivers, Otmar Szafnauer is in a good position to compare how Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel go about their business.

The Alpine team principal moved to the team just weeks before the start of the new season, after departing Aston Martin because he knew he would no longer have the “influence” he once did with the arrival of Martin Whitmarsh above him.

But what this has done is offer Szafnauer the chance to work with two of Formula 1’s most successful drivers, so he was naturally asked about how they work within a team and, while they share some of the same traits, there are other areas in which they differ – but all with the same goal in mind.

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“They are very similar,” Szafnauer told AS. “Different in personality, but similar in their requests to be able to go faster, about what they do.

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“I think Sebastian has more detailed feedback, but Fernando focuses on those things that will give him more performance from the start, the big stuff, whereas Sebastian studies the big stuff and then gets into the details.

“There are differences, but their desire to win and improve performance is the same.”

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