As much as I'd like 'car guys' running an F1 team, a political beast is what Alpine needs right now.
Hope you're not suggesting that Binotto is not a 'car guy' Jeri?
I get where your coming from in that anyone who can survive Ferrari for so long has political nounce, but to my way of thinking Binotto was too much a 'car guy' in the end to get on top of the machinations in the different departments and power blocks that make up the Scuderia.
He'll probably be a good fit for Alpine/Renault at this time though.
Oh and Otmar must have known he was getting into a nest of vipers when he took the job, most of the DPs have chats from time to time. Cyril Abiteboul and Marcin Budkowski had certainly been around the paddock for years and are bound to have relayed to others the more restrictive system of Head office inerference placed on Enstone.
Hell, Christian Horner, and probably most other TPs, knew damn well Cyril's hands were tied by the hierachy at Renault during the famous spats about Renault power units in the new era after 2016, Cyril was in a no win cul de sac and simply had to soak up the pressure as best he could.