Mekies to replace Tost as Alpha Tauri Team Principal

It’s been announced that Laurent Mekies will succeed Franz Tost as AlphaTauri Team Principal, with former FIA F1 executive director Peter Bayer set to become the new CEO for the team.

Mekies, the current Assistant Team Principal and Race Director at Ferrari, will make the move from Maranello back to his former team, to succeed one of F1’s longest serving team bosses in Tost.

Having turned 67 in January this year, Tost had put a loose timeline on when he was ending his F1 career, which first started back in 2000 when he followed Ralf Schumacher to Williams.

Tost then took the reins at AlphaTauri – then Scuderia Toro Rosso – in 2005 and retained his position as Team Principal when the squad was re-christened in its current guise. But the team has now confirmed that Tost will leave his role at the end of the 2023 season, taking on a consultancy role for 2024.

The changes don’t stop there, with Bayer also coming in as CEO for the team later on in the year – with AlphaTauri set to benefit from the Austrian’s wide-ranging experience in the sport.

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. [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.

Tost on the news.

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.

Mekies on the news.