'Important Ferrari staff member follows Mekies and leaves for AlphaTauri'

Laurent Mekies quit his job at Ferrari last year to make the move to AlphaTauri, where he has succeeded Franz Tost as team boss. In his wake, the 46-year-old Frenchman has taken Marco Matassa with him, Corriere dello Sport reports.

Mekies worked at AlphaTauri - then called Toro Rosso - as chief engineer in the past. Matassa also has history with the Italian formation. Among other roles, he was a race engineer to Daniil Kvyat and later Carlos Sainz. In 2018, he left for Ferrari to become Kimi Raikkonen's race engineer.

In recent years, Matassa was responsible for talent development at Ferrari. So now, after a six-season tenure, he returns to Faenza. At Ferrari, Jock Clear has been appointed as a temporary replacement.

According to Corriere dello Sport, it cannot be ruled out that more Ferrari employees will follow Mekies and make the move to AlphaTauri.

Plenty of changes at Ferrari

At Ferrari, there have been quite a few organisational changes ahead of the new season. Not only have Mekies and Matassa left, Ignacio Rueda - the Scuderia's strategic team leader until last season - will no longer attend Grands Prix. The Spaniard will reportedly start working on the brand's sports cars.