Italian media states that Laurent Mekies is to leave Ferrari to join AlphaTauri and return to the F1 team he worked for under a different owner.
Having left FIA to join Ferrari in 2021, Mekies was likely eyeing the team principal role at the Italian outfit after the departure of Mattia Binotto, but was overlooked for Frederic Vasseur by the senior management who roped in the Frenchman from Sauber.
Mekies remained as the Sporting Director and seemingly the deputy to Vasseur. There were already murmurs of him leaving in early 2023 which Ferrari denied, but according to Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Frenchman is likely to leave certainly.
As per the Italian website, Mekies is slated to return to AlphaTauri, where he worked when the team ran as Minardi. His entry point in F1 was via Arrows and then he switched to the Faenza based outfit but left the team in 2014 to join the FIA.
He was promoted to being the deputy F1 race director in 2017, but left the job in 2021 to join Ferrari. The Italian website states that Mekies could join AlphaTauri in 2023 itself if the agreement is reached and if not, then 2024 is the likely season for the move.
He is tipped to re-join AlphaTauri to replace team boss Franz Tost in the future, where the Austrian has indicated that he won’t continue at the helm for long, considering he is already 67-years-old and has been the boss since the 2006 F1 season.
Mekies is the latest big Ferrari name after David Sanchez left to join McLaren. The senior management and Vasseur initially did not talk much about changes, but gradually there are people being removed or shuffled and there are many coming in too.
Mekies, Bayer to join AlphaTauri as Tost will step down after 2023
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