Similarities between Tost and Marko: 'Made me mature faster'

For Daniel Ricciardo, a particularly strange season is also over. The Australian started on the reserve bench, was allowed to fill in at AlphaTauri, got injured and made another comeback. In 2024, Ricciardo is no doubt hoping for a more stable season. In any case, who will no longer be there then is Franz Tost. The team boss brought Ricciardo to Toro Rosso and now again to AlphaTauri. The Austrian bid farewell to AlphaTauri last weekend.

Ricciardo is going to miss the Austrian, he told Abu Dhabi. "I would say, 'Huge. I remember very vividly the first meeting I had in his office, and I came in with a bit of a smile. He was looking at me... He was trying to prepare me for what was ahead of us. You know, it's a serious sport and it's a tough world. He was also very honest with me. He's a bit like Helmut Marko. I matured faster and Franz played a big role in that."

Tost always remained hugely involved

According to Ricciardo, Tost was highly motivated right up to the last day with the team. "He is present at every debriefing, he will normally also speak in the debriefings and give an analysis or advice on what he has seen. He is fully involved. And it's his passion. That has given him that drive these past few years. I hope he can enjoy the rest next year."

Meanwhile, it is clear that Tost will remain attached to Red Bull and AlphaTauri as an external consultant. Yet most of the time he will be far away from the circuits. " I have a lot of good memories and actually for me personally it was very nice to come back to the team and witness his farewell here," Ricciardo said.