Franz Tost: Alpha Tauri team principal to be replaced by Ferrari's Laurent Mekies

1 year ago 36

Franz Tost of Austria and Scuderia Alpha Tauri (L) and Dr. Helmut Marko of Austria and Oracle Red Bull Racing

Franz Tost volition beryllium replaced astatine the extremity of this play arsenic squad main of Red Bull's Alpha Tauri squad by Ferrari sporting manager Laurent Mekies.

Peter Bayer, antecedently F1 enforcement manager and caput wide for motorsport astatine governing assemblage the FIA, volition go the team's main executive.

Alpha Tauri said the changes were "aimed astatine securing semipermanent stableness and ensuring continuity".

Tost, 67, volition stay arsenic a advisor until the extremity of the 2024 season.

Despite giving a day for the Austrian's departure, Alpha Tauri did not specify the dates that either Mekies oregon Bayer would commencement successful their caller roles.

Tost is F1's 2nd longest-serving squad main aft Red Bull's Christian Horner and has been successful complaint of the squad since the aged Minardi outfit was bought by Red Bull and named Toro Rosso.

The squad was acceptable up with the thought of being a proving crushed for imaginable aboriginal Red Bull drivers, and person won 2 races - the 2008 and 2020 Italian Grands Prix with Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly.

Other drivers to advancement from the squad to a afloat Red Bull spot see two-time satellite champion Max Verstappen and eight-time victor Daniel Ricciardo.

Tost, a erstwhile racing driver, said it was clip for him to manus implicit his day-to-day relation astatine the team.

"It has been a existent privilege to pb the squad for specified a agelong play and a large pleasance to enactment with truthful galore motivated and skilled people, who stock my passionateness for Formula 1," Tost said.

"At 67 years old, it is clip to manus implicit - and with Peter arsenic caller CEO and Laurent arsenic squad principal, we recovered 2 precise nonrecreational people, who volition bring the squad to the adjacent level."

Frenchman Mekies joined Ferrari successful 2018 from a relation arsenic lawman racing manager astatine the FIA, which helium joined from Toro Rosso successful 2014.

Austrian Bayer was a long-serving enforcement astatine the FIA who mislaid his relation successful June 2022, six months aft Mohammed Ben Sulayem became the president.

Bayer led the enquiry into the mistakes made astatine the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, erstwhile contention manager Michael Masi failed to instrumentality the rules correctly during a precocious information car period, starring to the satellite title changing hands from Lewis Hamilton to Verstappen.

Bayer said it was a "great privilege" to instrumentality connected his caller relation astatine Alpha Tauri.

The changes astatine Alpha Tauri person been masterminded by Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull's main enforcement of firm projects and investments, who was fixed the relation of overseeing the brushed portion giant's engagement successful large planetary athletics pursuing the decease of co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz past October.

Mintzlaff said: "Throughout his clip astatine the team, Franz has been driven by a singular imaginativeness - the pursuit of ever much show from instrumentality and from driver.

"His enactment resulted successful outstanding victories and successful the improvement of immoderate of the finest talents ever seen successful F1.

"Replacing him arsenic helium steps backmost has not been casual and has resulted successful a redefinition of the absorption operation astatine the team. Both Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies person immense acquisition successful apical positions successful Formula 1 and unneurotic I americium definite they volition instrumentality Scuderia Alpha Tauri to adjacent greater heights successful the future."

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