Personnel change at Ferrari as Mekies departs ahead of AlphaTauri move

Mekies is taking over as AlphaTauri team principal next year, replacing long-serving boss Franz Tost, who is moving into a consultancy role.

The move was announced by AlphaTauri back in April but the timing irked Ferrari, who at the time had not ironed out the details of Mekies' exit from Maranello. 

That led to negotiations between the two parties before Ferrari agreed an early release date for Mekies to start a period of gardening leave before taking up his new position at AlphaTauri. 

Mekies has not travelled to Belgium with his last Ferrari appearance coming at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Ferrari have confirmed Diego Ioverno as his replacement with immediate effect. 

"Laurent Mekies’ time at Scuderia Ferrari comes to an end this week," a Ferrari statement read.

"The Racing Director will not be in Belgium and he leaves the Prancing Horse after four and a half seasons, during which time the team took seven wins.

"The entire team thanks him for his great contribution during those years.

"As from the Belgian Grand Prix, part of Laurent’s duties on the pit wall will be carried out by Diego Ioverno, who takes on the role of Sporting Director.

"He will be responsible for all sporting matters, as well as liaising with the FIA. Ioverno is a veteran member of the Scuderia having worked in Maranello for the past 23 years.

"Along with his colleagues on the pit wall, Matteo Togninalli, Head of Track Engineering and Ravin Jain, Race Strategist, he will report directly to Team Principal Fred Vasseur."