Franz Tost successfully accomplished his mission with AlphaTauri, the Austrian reflects on his decision to leave the team

Last week in Baku, AlphaTauri announced the departure of Franz Tost at the end of the season, replaced by the current sporting director of Scuderia Ferrari, Laurent Mekies. This press conference on Friday was an opportunity for the Austrian to go into detail about his retirement.

« It’s time to leave. 67 years. I believe it’s the moment where I’m going to pass the baton to other people who can do a much better job than I can. I think it’s the right way to proceed and I look forward to the moment when Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies will take over the team. »

« I will miss Formula 1, of course. I love Formula 1, but you never know: maybe I will do some go-karting, or maybe I will start racing again. »

Franz Tost discusses his last 18 years

Since its beginnings, the Austrian has constantly been developing the junior driver program to allow talents to emerge. Of course, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are the main examples, but Franz Tost doesn’t just mention them: he highlights the success and progress of many other drivers.

He explains, “When Dietrich Mateschitz decided to buy Minardi, he said that one of the main objectives was to train young drivers for Red Bull, and that’s exactly what we did.”

« Looking back, there were very skilled drivers like Sebastian Vettel, and of course, Verstappen. I know they have won many races, championships, and so on – but there are also other drivers who were really fast, like Carlos Sainz, like Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, and now Yuki Tsunoda, he says. « And there are a few drivers who have improved a lot over time in our team and have done a very professional job, they have developed themselves and it’s good to see. »

Grateful Hornet towards Tost

Asked about the departure of Franz Tost, the Team Principal of Red Bull, the rigor of his Austrian colleague, who played a major role in the development of Red Bull’s young program.

« He did a fantastic job with the young drivers: very disciplined, he made them all do karting, do gym,” he says. « I believe one of his famous mottos is as follows: every day spent outside of a circuit is a day lost in your life. And that included Christmas and probably New Year’s Eve! His contribution is therefore enormous. It is understandable that he thinks it is time to take a step back, but the contribution he has made to Toro Rosso and, of course, AlphaTauri, in developing and nurturing these young talents, is absolutely remarkable,” said Horner at the press conference.

Toto Wolff and his shared past with Franz Tost

« We are both Austrians… So we have a common past: we started racing on the old Österreichring, both instructors at the same racing school – the Walter Lechner Racing School – and Franz was obviously there 45 years before me! » he says, laughing. « But actually, we missed each other by just a few years. So we have come a long way. »