The Enstone-based squad found itself in the firing line from Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi over the Miami GP weekend, as he lashed out at its lack of results this year.
“I'm noting not only an obvious lack of performance and rigour in the delivery, but also potentially a state of mind that is not up to this team's past standards,” Rossi told Canal+
Rossi also said he was far from impressed at the triple whammy of penalties Esteban Ocon earned in Bahrain, as well as the problems that marred the squad's weekend in Baku.
“I did not like the first grand prix, because there was a lot of – I'm sorry for saying this – amateurishness, which led to a result that wasn't right. It was mediocre, bad.
“And the last race in Baku was tremendously similar to the one in Bahrain. That is not acceptable.”
Despite the remarkable comments causing a stir, Szafnauer insists that he did not read any stories relating to the matter.
And, furthermore, he said that any such criticisms that are made public change absolutely nothing in terms of the determination inside the team to do better.
“Reading something like that on paper puts no more pressure [on us],” he said, when asked by Motorsport.com if there was a greater need to do better now.
“Everyone wants to do well here. We're very well experienced, with technicians and engineers at the highest level, and we put pressure on ourselves. So, we just have to fix it.”
Source: Autosport