AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer says that he and new team principal Laurent Mekies will help to drive the Italian outfit forward as “sparring partners”.
In Abu Dhabi last November, long-standing AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost concluded his 18-year tenure at the helm of the Faenza-based squad.
Tost’s retirement has opened a new era for Red Bull’s sister team, with acting CEO Bayer and former Ferrari sporting director Mekies now in charge of steering the soon to be renamed outfit into the future.
But as the pair step into their roles, Bayer sees their mission as a dynamic collaborative effort between two “sparring partners”.
When asked what Mekies is bringing to the team, Bayer underscored the Frenchman’s background and especially the vast experience accumulated on the front lines at Ferrari.
“A lot, obviously, because he's been sitting on the pit wall of Ferrari for a long time,” Bayer explained, quoted by Motrsport.com. “But he's also come in with a very good network, he knows a lot of good people.
“We have plenty of top talent joining us, because they're excited about the new opportunity arising, about a new team coming, a new identity coming.
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“Luckily, we've been successful in the recent weeks and months, it really helps, it's changing the dynamics of people to sign an agreement.
“That will be his strength, and his daily focus is running the trackside operation of the team as a team principal.”
AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer with former team principal Franz Tost.
Bayer believes that AlphaTauri’s dual leadership structure will prove beneficial as the two men leverage their individual strengths, yielding positive results.
“We'll be sparring partners for each other, and we’ll be challenging each other, we'll be working together, supporting each other,” he added.
“And I think that in today's complexity of F1, it's a strength actually to have a four-eyed principal with two people with different backgrounds.
“Yes, you can be Christian Horner or Franz Tost, and do this job for 20-odd years, and know everything, and have around them a very strong team of people.
“But for us, I think it's the ideal setup. Because you have sporting, technical already. Financial is something that we'll be focusing on both, because I believe you can gain a lot there by understanding those rules in the best possible way.
Former Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies has now taken the day-to-day reins of AlphaTauri as team principal.
“And I think both of us have a very good understanding of the financial regulations, and the original intent and where we are today, and where they might go.
“And it's very simple: you find two million, you have a big upgrade. And we have an advantage as a team, because we're extremely efficient. How we are structured, what Franz has built, is quite amazing in terms of output – and at the same time, the efficiency [in the way] we can produce an output.
“I think that's where we'll be working together closely. I have a strong interest in technical topics, I always had actually, as Laurent has a strong interest in commercial stuff. So we run things by each other. But then again, we both go off into our respective areas.”
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