Departing Red Bull chief 'not proud' of last season with team

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Departing Red Bull chief 'not proud' of last season with team

Franz Tost has asked if he was 'stupid' to leave AlphaTauri with such a poor final position

Chris Deeley

Tuesday 12 December 2023 08:27

Franz Tost has admitted that he isn't proud of his last season as a team principal in the Red Bull family, with his AlphaTauri squad failing to live up to their pre-season expectations.

Tost will officially leave the team at the very end of 2023, but admitted he won't be able to help himself from being attached to F1 - even asking the team how he can still have access to the running data.

The Austrian moved from Williams to the Red Bull family at the start of the season, being appointed team principal for the then-Toro Rosso team, and retaining his position when the team later became AlphaTauri.

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He insisted that 'fifth place is a must' ahead of the 2017 season, but not once in his tenure did he manage to drag his team to that spot - achieving three sixth-placed finishes, ending his career with the team in eighth in 2023.

Tost ended up working with Daniel Ricciardo in his final season at AlphaTauri

Franz Tost has shepherded Red Bull's next generation for nearly two decades

Max Verstappen worked with Franz Tost at Toro Rosso before graduating to Red Bull

Tost: There's no reason to be proud

Speaking to F1.com at the end of his time with Red Bull's junior team, Tost admitted: “I am not happy or proud – the target was to finish fifth in the constructors’ championship and we didn’t achieve this goal.

"Therefore there is no reason to be happy or proud. I’m upset we didn’t achieve this goal. I’m thinking to myself, ‘why you were too stupid to do this?’ Formula 1 is very fair. Either you can do it – or you’re not clever enough.”

On his departure from the sport, he added: “Of course I will miss the people. We have a very strong team, a passionate team in Faenza. I like the people, I have worked together with many of them for 18 years. I will miss them of course.

“I will also miss F1, the F1 atmosphere. F1 is a special family. I was always looking forward to the different races, as every track has its own characteristic. These are all challenges that make life interesting.”

F1 Red Bull Williams AlphaTauri Toro Rosso Franz Tost