Laurent Mekies reflects on ongoing Ferrari F1 split: “We will find a solution”. Laurent Mekies reflects on Ferrari F1 split.

The Laurent Mekies affair
For over a month, the Laurent Mekies saga has been making headlines at Ferrari, with the current sporting director announced on April 26th as the future team principal of Alpha Tauri. The problem is that the French manager has an existing contract with the Prancing Horse, which seems reluctant to give him the go-ahead to move to the Red Bull-owned junior team. This has created the unusual situation of Laurent Mekies still being at the Ferrari pit wall, despite his impending departure from Maranello.

Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, in its Sunday edition, revealed the behind-the-scenes details, with President John Elkann reportedly having a “private conversation with Christian Horner” on Saturday morning regarding the Laurent Mekies affair. According to journalist Fulvio Solms, Ferrari has taken offense to the “institutional slight” of the announcement made to the media, to the point of not wanting to release the Frenchman from his contractual obligation ahead of time.

The sporting director of the Prancing Horse reportedly has a contract “until the end of 2024” and is still present at the Ferrari pit wall “to avoid a contractual violation.” The standoff between the parties is evident, with Red Bull reportedly retaliating by blocking the passage of some of their engineers to Maranello.

Laurent Mekies spoke during the Saturday morning press conference dedicated to team members ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo, not hiding behind a no-comment stance regarding his future. He said, “I am dressed in red, and therefore I am 100% committed to Ferrari and representing Ferrari. The reason why discussions are still ongoing between the parties is that they probably needed a bit more time to talk to each other, and that is what they are doing now. I am confident that this can lead to a solution that satisfies all parties. I won’t provide further details, but when you arrive at a track wearing a certain shirt, you only think about that team and that race weekend. That’s how we have decided to proceed for the time being.” – the French manager explained.