Alpine strikes a blow: Sanchez returns after adventures at Ferrari and McLaren

Alpine has struck a major blow. The French factory team has appointed David Sanchez as Executive Technical Director. Sanchez left the McLaren team last month after only a few months' employment, and so now returns to Enstone.

David Sanchez left Ferrari at the beginning of last season to start as 'Car Concept and Performance' technical director at McLaren in 2024. The 44-year-old Frenchman did not last long, as the team from Woking said goodbye to the acquisition after a quarter because the cooperation on both sides was not satisfactory.

With Alpine, Sanchez has found a new employer. In his new role he will oversee the engineering department at Enstone and have overall responsibility for the performance, engineering and aerodynamics departments. Sanchez will report directly to team principal Bruno Famin.

Team principal Bruno Famin is delighted with Sanchez's arrival. "I am delighted to welcome David back to Enstone, where he started his career back in 2005. This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimising everything we do as a team and focusing on the right performance areas. It is clear that the performance of the car and development path has not moved at a sufficient pace relative to our ambitions as a team. We look forward to welcoming David and working hard together to achieve the ultimate success."

Sanchez himself said he is excited to return to Alpine. "I’m excited by this challenge at Alpine. I’m looking forward to working at Enstone again, the place where I started my Formula 1 career. This team has always had so many fantastic people involved and there is clearly so much potential to unlock. We have a big task ahead to improve on-track performance and it is this type of challenge that motivates me. I’m very much ready to begin and look forward to working with the Enstone-Viry technical teams again with the sole aim of bringing regular success back to this great team."