Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has vowed to find “a fair solution” with Red Bull over future AlphaTauri boss Laurent Mekies.
It is now just over five weeks since AlphaTauri announced Franz Tost would be retiring as team principal at the end of the year after 18 seasons at the helm.
Tost is to be replaced by a new senior management structure which will see Peter Bayer, who served as F1 executive director and secretary general for sport at the FIA, becoming chief executive officer, and Ferrari sporting director Mekies the new team boss.
However, discussions remain ongoing between Ferrari and AlphaTauri’s parent company Red Bull over Mekies’ release.
It is understood Ferrari is stalling over when it will allow Mekies to leave as it is negotiating with Red Bull the release of certain engineers.
Ahead of the Monaco GP, speaking for the first time on the matter since AlphaTauri announced his appointment in the build-up to the Azerbaijan GP, Mekies said a decision had not been made as to when he could swap teams.
Pressed on the matter prior to this weekend’s Spanish GP, Vasseur said the issue is “a discussion between AlphaTauri, Red Bull and ourselves”.
Asked by Speedcafe to explain the hold-up, Vasseur added: “Laurent is still linked with us and we have to find a deal with Red Bull and AlphaTauri for this.
“I think we’ll do it in the proper way because I don’t want to block Laurent. I know him and I have a huge respect for Laurent.
“Even if we are competitors at the end of the day, I think we have to find a fair solution for everybody.”
Put to Tost whether there was a possibility he could yet remain in charge going into next season if the current impasse could not be resolved, he said: “No, no, we have Peter.
“If Laurent is not coming at least we have Peter Bayer. I expect Laurent is coming, early or later, at least at the beginning of January. The rest we will see.”
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