Ahead of this weekend’s168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, AlphaTauri confirmed they had signed Ferrari sporting direc🐼tor Mekies to replace Franz Tost as team principal when he♈ steps down at the end of the 2023 season.

Despite giving a date for 67-year-old Tost’s depa🤡rture, AlphaTauri did not specific exac💧tly when Mekies would takeover as team principal. 

And Vasseur, who made a winter switch from Alfa Romeo to replace Mattia Binotto as Ferrari boss, stressed that the “details” of Mek♓ies’ exit are yet to be agreed. 

“Firstꦡ of all, I think it’s a mega opportunity for Laurent, considering also that I have a good relationship with him. And I won’t block Laurent, for sure,” Vasseur said on Thursday. 

“The♏n I think it’s also – if you speak about timeline – I think Toro Rosso [AlphaTauri] was probably a bit aggressive ൩on the press release, and we have a long-term contract with Laurent and we’ll have to discuss about details.”

Vasseur would not be drawn on the exact length of a potential ‘gardening ♑leave’ period that would need to be observed before Mekies could complete his move to AlphaTauri. 

“We have a long-term contract with him and we’ll have to find the best for Fer🌞rari,” he said. 

“And depending on when he will move to Toro Rosso [Alp🔜haTauri], we will decide the end of the collaboration. We’ll do it properly and the relationship is very pos🌳itive.”

In March, Vasseur str🌼ongly denied speculation that Mekies ꦍcould leave Ferrari. 

When that was put to him, Vasseur responded: “But I think the proposal was not the same! And I can’♋t perfectly put myself in Laurent’s pos🅘ition.

“But I think it’s💃 quite impossible to refuse, when ꦬyou are in this business, to become team principal now.”

He added: “I’m there to protect Ferrari’s interests, and it’s Fe♍rrari first and it will always be Ferrari first🎃, it means that I will have to discuss about the conditions of this.”

Mekies is the latest higꦫh-profile figure to quit Ferrari amid a lacklustre start to 2023, but Vasseur was keen ♛to downplay the situation. 

“To lose two persons out o🐻f 1600, it’s not a drama,” he said.

“You know that the power of the team is always more important, and the power of the 🐽group, than the individuals.

“We have to keep this in mind, that the most i🦩mportant is the group. The group is there, we are recruiting massively, we are not communicating that but we are recruiting massively.

“And we will do that step by step because you can’t put an organisation in place in two weeks. You know perfectly the system of the recruitment in F1, it’𓄧s quite long and painful.

“But we are working on it. Don’t expect that one day 🌃you will have a new organisation. It will be step by step and we are putting something in place.”