AlphaTauri have announced that former FIA executive Peter Bayer will join the team as Chief Executive Officer, with Team Principal Franz Tost set to step down at the end of the 2023 Formula 1 season. After RacingNews365.com learned that Laurent Mekies would be leaving Ferrari in his position as Sporting Director, AlphaTauri confirmed that he would be Tost's replacement and join the team at a later date. The management shakeup is one of the largest for the Faenza squad since they joined the grid as Toro Rosso in 2005 after having bought out the Minardi team. Tost has spent 18 years as the team's Team Principal, overseeing their two Grand Prix victories in Italy in 2008 and again in 2020. A poor start to the 2023 season with just one point from three races has prompted the change, with the team looking to turn their fortunes around and challenge further up the grid. "I would like to thank Franz Tost for his hard work at AlphaTauri over the past 18 years," said Oliver Mintzlaff, Chief Executive of Corporate Projects and Investments at Red Bull. "Throughout his time at the team Franz has been driven by a singular vision – the pursuit of ever more performance from machine and from driver. His leadership resulted in outstanding victories and in the development of some of the finest talents ever seen in Formula 1. "Replacing him as he steps back has not been easy and has resulted in a redefinition of the management structure at the Team. I am therefore very pleased to welcome Peter Bayer as CEO and Laurent Mekies as Team Principal. Both have huge experience in top positions in Formula 1 and together I am sure they will take Scuderia AlphaTauri to even greater heights in the future." Given Tost's legacy with the team in successfully developing some of Red Bull's biggest talents, including Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly, he will stay on in a consultancy role from 2024.
AlphaTauri looks to FIA and Ferrari experience to turn around fortunes
Peter Bayer joins AlphaTauri as CEO, having previously spent five years as FIA Secretary General for Sport where the Austrian was involved in the development of the 2022 F1 regulations and the upcoming Power Unit regulations set to be introduced in 2026. In 2021, he was appointed F1 Executive Director and was in charge of overseeing the investigation into the controversial events of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when former FIA Race Director Michael Masi selectively implemented two articles of the sporting regulations. He was later replaced by Sheila-Ann Rao midway through 2022, who subsequently left the FIA in her interim position as Secretary General for Sport at the end of November. Mekies previously worked for AlphaTauri in their Minardi and Toro Rosso days, joining in 2002 and rising to be Chief Engineer across a 10-year stint. He later took on the role of FIA Safety Director in 2014 and Deputy Race Director in 2017, before switching to Ferrari in 2018.
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