Laurent Mekies still wants to leave the Ferrari team and the Frenchman seems to be making a switch to the AlphaTauri team in the coming years. The French top man has not been in his place at the Scuderia since the dismissal of Mattia Binotto and as a result he already had several offers in his pocket, which have been rejected by Ferrari. If the transfer actually takes place, Mekies will work alongside Franz Tost. Still, there is the possibility that he will later be promoted to team principal.
The Italian media have already indicated several times that Mekies wants to leave Ferrari. After Binotto’s dismissal, the engineer is no longer comfortable with the Italian racing stable and the arrival of good friend Frédéric Vasseur has not changed that. The Frenchman could leave for Alpine, Liberty Media or the FIA, his former employer. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, another team seems to be picking up Mekies. ‘The departure of Mekies to AlphaTauri can already be realized this year, otherwise it will happen next year.’
It will be a return to a familiar environment, as Mekies was previously part of Minardi, the team that was taken over by Red Bull Racing. Moreover, AlphaTauri also has its base in Italy. “He will work alongside team boss Tost, who he worked with during the Toro Rosso years when he was the team’s chief of engineers.” At the time, Mekies also witnessed the team’s first victory in 2008, when Sebastian Vettel triumphed in Monza.
‘Departure for AlphaTauri may be one with perspective’
AlphaTauri is not having a great start to the season at the moment, despite Yuki Tsunoda scoring points in Melbourne. Helmut Marko has therefore been critical of Red Bull’s sister team on several occasions. In addition, Tost has already indicated that he will not be in the Formula 1 paddock for years to come, so La Gazzetta dello Sport sees the switch to Faenza as one with perspective. “Without surprises, Mekies could take over the team.”
