In maybe not the most shocking news to come this season, long-serving AlphaTauri team boss, Franz Tost is to step down at the end of the year, being replaced by Laurent Mekies, currently at Ferrari.
However, the date at which he is to fill the role is yet to be confirmed. This, according to AlphaTauri’s statement earlier today is part of a new management structure “aimed at securing long-term stability and ensuring continuity”. Fulfilling some good buzzword quotas there too…Further change is afoot with a new CEO joining in the form of Peter Bayer, formerly of the FIA, who up until June 2022 held the role of F1 Executive Director and Secretary General for Sport with the governing body.
To be a “long-serving” team principal in F1 these days it seems like you might only have to hold the position for around 2 years, given some of the changes at the top of teams that have taken place in recent times, but the brutally honest Franz Tost certainly fits the bill. The 67-year-old Austrian has been in charge of AlphaTauri since it was called Scuderia Toro Rosso way back in 2005 when Red Bull bought the Minardi team. In his 18 years at the helm Tost has secured 6th in the championship on three occasions; the team’s best result in the overall standings since its’ inception.
In his position at the head of the Red Bull feeder team he has seen many of his drivers progress through the ranks to the senior team and go on to become Grand Prix winners and indeed, sometimes become World Champion. At one point in time, a third of the drivers on the grid had worked under the Austrian at one point or another so I think you could say that overall his time has been rather successful in terms of preparing drivers to fight for championships, even if he never did achieve his goal of leading the team to 5th in the Constructors’ Championship. The veteran team boss is not quite done with F1 just yet though, as he is to remain in a consultancy role into 2024 with AlphaTauri before presumably a well-deserved retirement. As part of the statement on the AlphaTauri website, he said:
It has been a true privilege to lead the Team for such a long period and a great pleasure to work with so many motivated and skilled people, who share my passion for Formula 1. With 67 years old it is time to hand over and with Peter as new CEO and Laurent as Team Principal, we found two very professional people, who will bring the Team to the next level. I want to thank everyone for the good cooperation.”
Hopefully his scathing words about his engineers in recent times don’t leave his farewell card a little light on signatures…
Laurent Mekies is returning to a team he knows well, having previously served there as both a race engineer and Head of Vehicle Performance before departing for a role with the FIA, then returning trackside with Ferrari in 2018. He will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the team as well as the technical side while Bayer will have a more “strategically focussed role” with both having “equal responsibility” according to the teams’ statement. Similar to the structure at Alpine for example with Otmar Szafnauer running the team and Laurent Rossi in the CEO role. Mekies had the following to say regarding his appointment:
“Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to Franz for the great job he has done over almost two decades in charge at Faenza. I wish him well for the future and I know that both Peter and I will rely on his input and advice in times to come. Looking forward, I am honoured to take on the role of Team Principal and to return to the team where I spent a large portion of my early career. Scuderia AlphaTauri has all of the ingredients necessary for greater success in the future and in tandem with Peter I’m looking forward to making that happen.”
With no word yet on when Mekies will officially take over we can at best guess that it will be sometime between the end of the season and prior to pre-season testing, but the lack of a date may suggest contractual obligations yet to be ironed out with his former employers and on that point we shall have to wait and see if any more news comes from either team.
