According to recent reports on corrieredellosport.it, Laurent Mekies, the former engineer at Ferrari, has shared details about his departure from the team a few months ago. In his revelations, Mekies discusses the circumstances surrounding his farewell, offering insights into some challenging periods he faced recently.
In the latter part of July, a startling announcement echoed across the F1 community, disclosing that Mekies would no longer be present in the Ferrari paddock. Ferrari officially confirmed the departure of the Frenchman, originally planned for the season’s end. However, the sudden midseason exit surprised many, injecting an element of unpredictability into Mekies’ career shift.
Nevertheless, it was later disclosed that this announcement was made in light of Mekies being appointed as the team principal at AlphaTauri. His role as the successor to Franz Tost for the 2024 season undoubtedly adds a new dimension to his career path in Formula 1. Reflecting on this development, the 46-year-old shared his insights during a conversation on the sidelines of the autosport awards ceremony.
The ex-Ferrari sporting director said, “I would have liked to lend a hand to AlphaTauri straight away. I would have liked to contribute to their cause, and at the beginning, I experienced months of frustration after leaving Ferrari.” However, in the course of the conversation, he also shared the emotional journey he went through.
Transitioning from frustration to gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the situation Mekies said, “As time passed I realized I had more time available to reflect and do other things. I was lucky to take a step back to have a picture of the situation more clearly”.
What was the performance of AlphaTauri in 2023?
During the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, AlphaTauri grappled with the challenge of having the slowest car on the circuit. Despite this initial setback, the team initiated a series of strategic measures to boost the performance of the AT04.
They reaped the rewards of the same as AlphaTauri’s results improved significantly in the last few races of the 2023 season. Their highlight of the season was arguably Daniel Ricciardo’s outstanding seventh-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
As a result of some decent results towards the end of the 2023 campaign, AlphaTauri managed to finish eighth in the Constructors’ Championship. Acknowledging this remarkable end-of-season performance, the head of vehicle performance Guillaume Dezoteux at AlphaTauri expressed pride in the team’s recovery.
During his conversation with GPBlog, Dezoteux said, “Yeah, I mean, it’s nice. We started the season a long way off, on the back foot, so there was plenty to find. But I think it’s fair to say that the factories have done a really good job at identifying the weaknesses of that car and then working hard to try to address those. “
