Before bidding his final adieu to the team he had served for so long, Franz Tost had a rather unsavory moment with his AlphaTauri personnel. An error from his strategists angered the 68-year-old so much, that he threatened to throw their laptops on the track. The outburst came during his final race with the team at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP.
Furious with their over-reliance on technology and how it led to mistakes, in a recent interview with F1-Insider, Tost recalled, “… the strategists just stared at their calculation programs and believed the numbers. That was too much for me. So I threatened to throw their laptops on the road next time, but as it was my last race, it won’t happen again.”
Tost gave his strategists an earful after an error in judgment cost Yuki Tsunoda P7 in the race. The engineers relied too much on their calculations to make Tsunoda stay out on the same tire for too long. This rendered the Japanese driver helpless in defending against Fernando Alonso who overtook him to steal the place.
Franz Tost does realize that his demeanor must have left some of his engineers unhappy after his departure. The incident, however, sheds light on his commitment to the team and his willingness to fight until his final appearance.
What next for Franz Tost?
Tost joined F1 in 2000 as Track Operations Manager for Williams’ engine supplier BMW. In 2005, he took up the role of the team principal of Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s sister team. The team was rebranded from Minardi in the same year. Since then, he led the team for 18 seasons, nurturing talent for Red Bull at the same time.
Many believed he would join a broadcaster as an expert after retiring. However, Tost ruled out the move, citing his “too extreme” opinions that could land him in trouble. A return to Red Bull seems the likely choice.
Helmut Marko hinted that Tost could serve Red Bull and AlphaTauri in the role of a standby consultant in 2024 and 2025 if either team needs him. The former team boss has certainly done himself no favors to expect a callback from his strategists, though.
Speaking with Auto Bild, Tost confirmed the talks with Red Bull over the possibility of a return. He said, “Yes, the talks will take place on 15 January. After that, we will see how I will continue to work for Red Bull. Basically, I will always be connected to motorsport, so I can certainly imagine a consultancy role.”
In the January 15 meeting, Red Bull decided to keep Tost as a consultant. Meanwhile, they also welcomed the new team boss, Laurent Mekies, who joined the Faenza-based team from Scuderia Ferrari.
