● The retirement at the end of this season of AlphaTauri principal Franz Tost led the team to announce its future management line-up. Peter Bayer will become the new CEO later in the year and Laurent Mekies the new principal next year. Bayer left the FIA in 2022 after disagreement with president Mohammed ben Sulayem. Mekies (who also served at the FIA in the past) has been recruited from Ferrari where he is sporting director. For Mekies, 46, it’s a return to the team where he last served as chief engineer in 2014.
● Rumours in the Italian media that Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Waché and its chief of aero Enrico Balbo had been recruited by Ferrari were dismissed at the Azerbaijan GP by team boss Christian Horner. “Individuals that have been mentioned in connection with Ferrari came to see me last week and mentioned their disbelief in some of these rumours,” said Horner. “It’s F1. That will inevitably happen.” At the same time it was announced that chief technical officer Adrian Newey has extended his contract “for the long term”.