In a first for Alpha Tauri in their brief history there will be a change in the team principal seat for the 2024 season.
Franz Tost is stepping down. This is his 18th at the helm of AlphaTauri, the sister team of current world champions Red Bull.
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He’s been in charge from day one when the Italian outfit entered the sport as Toro Rosso in 2006.
Laurent Mekies is leaving his role as Ferrari sporting director to become AlphaTauri team principal.
During that time the 67-year-old Austrian has seen a lot of change. His teams big brother has gone from strength to strength winning numerous titles in that time.
They are currently the dominant force in F1 with Max Verstappen likely to claim a third Drivers Championship in succession.
From the moment he stepped into an F1 car its been clear the Dutchman was a generational talent.
However, like many of his fellow Red Bull drivers past and present, he honed is skills under the tutelage of Franz Tost.
A breeding ground for champions
When Red Bull bought the Minardi team in 2005 a source told Autosport:
“The team was supposed to provide somewhere for junior drivers to learn about Formula 1, but it is better than that now. We needed another team to help make that happen.”
This followed a successful start to life in F1 for the team after only going themselves in 2004.
A podium in 2006 convinced the team that the sky was the limit and rather than bring in expensive options from elsewhere, they chose to develop their own talent from within.
While the initial results were shaky – Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed failed to set the world alight – they soon had their first golden boy.
A young German by the name of Sebastian Vettel.
It was a magical season for the team with many seeing the qualities that would make him a future champion.
They went on to outperform the senior Red Bull team in 2008 for the first and only time in their history to date.
The junior programme had worked and after two seasons Vettel got his promotion.
The timing could’t have been better as Red Bull fought for wins – the title was eventually taken by Jenson Button.
By 2010 Vettel was weeping his way over the line becoming the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history.
As a result, Tost got another set of youngsters to mould into the championship image.
Walking the tight rope
Tost’s role in F1 has always been tricky.
He turns these drivers into stars, but then just as quickly, loses them to Red Bull when they are seen to have outgrown the junior team.
In 2013 Daniel Ricciardo was the new kid on the block and he was dealing with another dilemma.
“It (2008) was a completely different time. At that time, Vettel went to a team that was still under construction. Yet today, if he goes to Red Bull, Daniel goes straight to the champion team.” said Tost at the time.
He has kept churning these guys out as Red Bull have gone from a midfield team to front runners.
Christian Horner reaped the rewards of Vettel’s quality for four dominant years and has wanted a successor ever since.
Tost provided.
After two years a young, aggressive star called Max Verstappen made the jump to Red Bull in 2016.
He has never looked back and seems to be on track to outdo Vettel’s four titles in the 2010s.
It doesn’t always work out of course.
Some drivers failed to break into the senior team, some made it and couldn’t handle the pressure.
Current drivers Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly are proof that not all succeed in the cauldron that is Red Bull.
Both have gone on to have successful careers though.
For Gasly, his return was even more special, as be brought the team an emotional victory in the wake of the death of his close friend, Antoine Hubert.
It showed that Alpha Tauri – at least for drivers – is a place they can flourish and push to their maximum.
Something that Franz Tost seems to bring out them.
Controversy
The partnership hasn’t been without its faults of course.
In 2007 Tost was accused of assaulting driver Scott Speed over an incident at the European Grand Prix.
After Tost later denied the incident, Speed went to the press describing the acrimonious situation at the team.
“After coming out and denying this stuff, it’s just another very dishonest thing that Franz or Gerhard have said in the media to damage me and Tonio”. said Speed.
Meanwhile, disappointing displays on the track this season led Tost to openly criticise his engineers ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP in March.
In a typically honest fashion he said he didn’t “trust them anymore”.
Perhaps this management style isn’t cut out for the modern world.
However there is no doubting his legacy on the sport as a whole.
Verstappen shows no signs of slowing down while Tsunoda and De Vries have the talent to go on to have success in the sport.
We will see Tost’s boys taking the sport by storm for some time.
Of course the drivers deserve most of the credit. The likes of Vettel, Verstappen and co would have become great drivers under different bosses.
But to flourish in an organisation you need a boss that drives you forward.
I’m sure his disciples will thank him for what he’s done before the season draws to a close.
And so should the F1 community. Its main assets may not have shone so bright without him.
The future
For the first time in its history the team will have a new leader.
That could be beneficial for the team.
Former FIA executive Peter Bayer joins the team as chief executive to “oversee the strategic direction of the team at its facilities in Faenza and in the UK”.
Tost will continue to work with the team in a “consultancy role”.
New boss Laurent Mekies’ start date has yet to be confirmed, although it is assumed he will be in charge for the start of the 2024 campaign.
While there is no obvious driver to take over from Checo Perez when he leaves Red Bull, the team are in good hands.
It will be interesting to see if Tost’s successor can foster the same mentality into the team now he’s gone.
On his departure, 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.
“With 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.”
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