Ferrari Sporting Director Mekies to Replace AlphaTauri Team Principal Tost

• AlphaTauri’s current veteran team boss, 67-year-old Franz Tost, is stepping down at the end of 2023.

• Tost will transition into a consultancy role in 2024.

• Laurent Mekies will become AlphaTauri’s new team principal. An exact starting date for Mekies has not been determined.

Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies will leave the marque in order to become the new team principal of AlphaTauri in Formula 1.

AlphaTauri’s current veteran team boss, 67-year-old Franz Tost, is stepping down at the end of 2023. Tost has been AlphaTauri’s team principal since its existence, in 2005, when Red Bull acquired the ailing Minardi outfit and repositioned it as its junior team.

Under Tost’s guidance AlphaTauri—and under its previous Toro Rosso name—became a training ground for Red Bull proteges, most notably Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

AlphaTauri has endured a period of strife as it misstepped under Formula 1’s new regulations in 2022 and has had a low-key start to the 2023 season.

Its existence within the Red Bull sphere was drawn into doubt following the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz last October. Tost was forced to publicly dismiss rumors earlier in 2023 that AlphaTauri was for sale, insisting such speculation was without foundation, and emphasized that Red Bull’s new managing director Oliver Mintzlaff was committed to its continuation.

Mintzlaff has now enacted managerial changes that will see Tost transition into a consultancy role in 2024, with Mekies becoming AlphaTauri’s new team principal. An exact starting date for Mekies has not been determined.

Ferrari has not yet publicly commented on Mekies' impending departure.

Mekies’ appointment as AlphaTauri’s new team principal returns him to the operation where he spent 12 years, between 2002 and 2014, initially as a race engineer before becoming head of vehicle performance.

Mekies left to join the FIA, as safety director and deputy race director, but only four years later departed to take up a senior role at Ferrari. Mekies, who was effectively second-in-command at Ferrari, departs only a few months after the arrival of Frederic Vasseur as Ferrari’s new team principal.

In addition to Mekies, AlphaTauri has also announced the appointment of Peter Bayer as its new chief executive officer. Bayer was employed by the FIA as its F1 executive director and secretary general for sport but left the governing body in 2022.

Mekies is due to oversee the day-to-day running of AlphaTauri while Bayer will front the squad’s strategic direction across its facilities in Faenza, Italy and Bicester, England.

“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,” 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 Formula 1.

“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. I want to thank everyone for the good cooperation.”

Mekies added that “I know both Peter and I will rely on Franz’s input and advice in times to come” and asserted that AlphaTauri “has all of the ingredients necessary for greater success in the future.”

AlphaTauri’s changes come following a raft of managerial alterations at other Formula 1 teams.

Ferrari, McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Williams all appointed new team principals during the 2022-23 offseason.