Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media
After a winter of changes at Ferrari, the structure of the racing department doesn’t seem to be well defined yet. According to what was reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport, after the releases of recent months, even the racing director of Maranello, Laurent Mekies could leave the company to move to Alpha Tauri.
Until now, 2023 for Ferrari is proving to be difficult and disappointing, at least considering the results achieved in the first three races of the season. In fact, the Scuderia is having a hard time getting a car to work, the SF-23, which, despite being the logical evolution of the excellent F1-75, has proved to be off the pace, problematic and difficult to understand. Such, therefore, it has brought the Scuderia down to fourth position in the constructors’ standings.
As said, the Reds have so far disappointed, collecting only a few points in this first part of the championship, showing disappointing performances in the first two GPs in Bahrain and Jeddah, and collecting zero points in Australia, where, despite the performance appearing to be better (almost at the speed of rivals), due to the various episodes of the race.
Not only that, since in addition to the bad results, the Scuderia’s present is also complicated by the transition period due to the “important changes underway” announced by the president John Elkann, and carried out together with the CEO Benedetto Vigna, in the organization of the team. Changes of no small importance such as the resignation of team principal Binotto, the farewell of Giacobazzi and Rosato, the relocation of Rueda, the promotion of Ravin Jain to head of strategies and the resignation of David Sanchez.
Changes within GeS which, to date, do not seem to be finished yet. According to what was reported by the ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’, even the team’s racing director, Laurent Mekies, would be ready to say goodbye and accept a new professional appointment.
“Laurent Mekies’ future will be far from Maranello, but always in Italy. The Ferrari racing director is in fact destined to move to AlphaTauri. […] For the Frenchman it will be a return to his origins, because he had begun his career in F.1 at Minardi, which later became Toro Rosso and finally Alpha Tauri.”
A decision of the Frenchman that has been in the works for some time, since the end of last season, when he was disappointed by the lack of consideration by the Ferrari management of him replacing team principal Mattia Binotto.
“It was no mystery that Mekies wanted to leave. He had already looked around at the end of last season, after the replacement of Mattia Binotto. […] Not even the arrival of the new team principal Frederic Vasseur, with whom he is a friend, has the situation changed. The decision was probably influenced by the fact that the top management of Ferrari did not take him into consideration as Binotto’s successor.”
A move to Alpha Tauri which, for the former FIA employee, could prove to be a career opportunity given that he would join, and then take his place within a few years, the current team principal Franz Tost.
“Mekies’ move to AlphaTauri could take place during this championship, if an agreement is found, or in 2024. He will join Franz Tost, with whom he has already worked. It could also be a choice in perspective. Tost has expressed his intention to leave F1 within three years, so the opportunity could arise for Mekies to take command of the team in 2026, barring immediate surprises.”
