(Reuters) – Renault replaced Laurent Rossi on Thursday as chief executive of its Alpine sportscar brand, which competes in Formula One, with Philippe Krief taking over at the top.
The Renault Group said in a statement that Rossi would now focus on “special projects linked to the transformation of the Group”.
Krief was previously the Alpine brand’s vice-president of engineering and product performance. Before that he worked for Ferrari as director of engineering.
“Alpine is now ready to enter a new phase of its development and to become a brand of the future,” said Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.
Alpine had already announced changes this month to its leadership team, with Bruno Famin taking overall responsibility for all motorsport activities including the Formula One team and world endurance.
Otmar Szafnauer, the principal of the British-based Alpine Formula One team, reports to Famin who in turn had a direct report to Rossi.
Rossi had made headlines at the Alpine F1 team when he warned in May he would make changes before the end of the season if performances did not improve, and said the buck stopped with Szafnauer.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
