AlphaTauri poach former Ferrari man Laurent Mekies to replace Franz Tost

In a significant managerial shake-up at AlphaTauri, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies will take over for Franz Tost as AlphaTauri's Formula 1 team chief.

Tost will leave his position as team principal after the conclusion of the 2023 season, according to an announcement from AlphaTauri. Mekies will take over as team principal in Tost's place and join the Italian squad at an undetermined time.

Peter Bayer, a former executive director of the FIA, will also join AlphaTauri later this season as its CEO, with responsibility for managing the team's strategic direction across its facilities in Italy and the UK.

Since Red Bull GmbH successfully acquired the Minardi group at the end of 2005, Tost has been in command of the team. Red Bull GmbH nominated Tost to the position in 2006.

In an official statement, Tost said:

“First of all, I would like to thank Dietrich Mateschitz, who gave me the incredible opportunity to be Team Principal of Scuderia Toro Rosso and Scuderia AlphaTauri for the past 18 years. 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."

In 2008, Sebastian Vettel won a wet race at Monza, and in 2020, Pierre Gasly doubled Faenza's team's wins. Tost supervised two triumphs for the team while it was known as Scuderia Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri.

Tost was under scrutiny, though, due to the team's recent decline in performance, and his recent remarks about having little faith in the AlphaTauri engineers were not well received in the camp. Tost will continue to work as a consultant for the team after the current season.

Mekies stated:

"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."

Mekies joined the team during its Minardi days and worked as a racing engineer and head of vehicle performance before moving on to the FIA.

Before joining Ferrari as sporting director, the Frenchman served as the racing governing body's safety director and deputy race director, and was seen as Charlie Whiting's replacement.

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AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries is concerned, but also optimistic with his debut season

Nyck de Vries is excited to race again this weekend. In a press release, the Dutchman, who is well-versed on the Baku street circuit, discussed the team's possibilities in Azerbaijan. He said:

"Baku will be my very first Sprint weekend and that will be particularly challenging with just one hour of free practice before qualifying."

Nonetheless, the former F2 champion has cause to be optimistic about his chances in Baku.