Photo: ACI Sport
Junior single-seater outfit Van Amersfoort Racing has announced Otmar Szafnauer as its new chief executive officer and managing partner.
The Dutch team currently competes in Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula Regional and Formula 4, and for the upcoming F2 season it has signed Ricco Shlaimoun as a reserve driver.
This is a move no team has done before, and Shlaimoun takes on the role with the target of landing a 2027 race seat at VAR. He has a mix of sportscar and single-seater experience, coming 12th in FRegional Americas’ 2024 season and racing GT4 cars last year.
Szafnauer moved into his new roles with VAR on February 1, and returns to junior single-seaters after racing in USF2000 back in 1994. Since then he has held major roles at several Formula 1 teams.
He was operations director at British American Racing in the early 2000s, chief operations officer at Force India and subsequently team principal and CEO when it was relaunched as Racing Point. That then became Aston Martin, which he also served as team principal of until leaving in January 2022.
“VAR has a strong reputation for developing talent and competing at a high level across multiple categories,” said Szafnauer. “I look forward to working closely with the leadership team and the wider organisation to guide the next phase of the team’s development.”
Frits van Amersfoort, founder of the team, has moved out of an operational role so there have been changes in senior positions heading into 2026 while Brad Joyce continues as team principal.
“Otmar’s experience and leadership add valuable perspective to the organisation,” Joyce commented. “His appointment significantly strengthens VAR as we continue to evolve and pursue our long-term vision.”