Tost to step down at end of year as new management team arrives at AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri have announced their long-serving team principal Franz Tost will step down at the end of this season, and be replaced by Ferrari’s racing director Laurent Mekies.

Tost has been at the helm of AlphaTauri since their first race in Formula 1 in 2006, when the team was known as Toro Rosso. He is the second longest-serving principal at any team – only Red Bull’s Christian Horner has been in charge of his outfit for longer.

During Tost’s tenue his team has reached the podium on five occasions, and won at Monza in 2008 and 2020. For the majority of the team’s existence it was considered as Red Bull’s B-team, and several of its drivers moved onto the senior squad, some like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel enjoying great success.

After he has stepped down, Tost will move into a consultancy position with AlphaTauri for the 2024 season.

“First of all, I would like to thank [Red Bull’s late co-founder] Dietrich Mateschitz, who gave me the incredible opportunity to be team principal of Scuderia Toro Rosso and Scuderia AlphaTauri for the past 18 years,” said Tost.

“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 F1.”

Peter Bayer, who served as the FIA’s secretary general for sport from 2017 to 2022 and as F1’s executive director from 2021 to the summer of last year, has been signed as the new chief executive officer of AlphaTauri and will take on his new position later this year.

“[At] 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,” said Tost. “I want to thank everyone for the good co-operation.”

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The arrival date of Mekies is also unconfirmed, given he is still under contract with Ferrari. But he already knows his next team well having worked at its Faenza base in the early 2000s when it was known as Minardi.

Mekies engineered several drivers at the team before Red Bull’s takeover, with the creation of Toro Rosso also leading to a promotion for Mekies as he became chief engineer. He left in 2014 to work for the FIA, then joined Ferrari in 2018.

“Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to Franz for the great job he has done over almost two decades in charge at Faenza,” said Mekies.

“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.”

The team’s future has been the subject of speculation since Mateschitz’s death last year. However last month Tost said there were “no foundation” to rumours that Red Bull were considering selling AlphaTauri.

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