Red Bull sign ex-FIA chief and boss sacked with Szafnauer in huge shake-up

29 January 2024 , 16:44

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The logo of the Visa CashApp RB F1 team, formerly branded as Scuderia AlphaTauri

Red Bull's sister team has confirmed the appointment of former Alpine sporting director Alan Permane as one of three major signings ahead of the new Formula 1 season.

Permane spent more than three decades working for the Enstone-based squad. But he was ousted suddenly in July last year, along with team principal Otmar Szafnauer, after a disagreement with the Renault board over targets for the future.

But his time out of the F1 paddock after so long in it has been brief. He has been snapped up to become racing director at Visa Cash App RB, reporting directly to new team principal Laurent Mekies.

"After a few months of downtime, it's great to return to racing again with the Visa Cash App RB team," said Permane. "From long experience, I know how professional, driven and competitive the people within this race team are and I can't wait to see where that spirit can take the team in the future."

He was one of three major new recruits announced by the team on Monday. Also joining is Tim Goss, who was most recently technical director at F1 governing body the FIA, but left mysteriously several weeks ago.

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His role is a newly-created one - Goss becomes chief technical officer of the team and will begin his new role in October. He previously spent 28 years working for McLaren and was part of F1 title successes for the likes of Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen.

He said: "I am delighted to join Visa Cash App RB at the start of its new era of competition. It's a team with great pride and heritage, with some exceptional people already in place and I'm looking forward to working with team principal Laurent Mekies and alongside technical director Jody Egginton. There's an exciting challenge ahead of us but I think the team is well-equipped to meet that head on."

The third and final new recruit is aerodynamicist Guillaume Cattelani, who moves over from Red Bull Technology. One of his major responsibilities will be to establish the team's performance targets in its new era as deputy technical director, reporting to long-serving chief Jody Egginton.

He said: "It's fantastic to have this opportunity to take the Visa Cash App RB team to the next level of competitiveness. I'm really looking forward to working with Jody and all of the other members of the technical team to create machinery that drives the team forward and takes us towards the front of the grid."

Team principal Mekies said of his new recruits: "We already have a very strong and hugely experienced group at the team and bringing onboard highly-skilled individuals like Tim, Guillaume and Alan will boost our capability and help us meet the highest technical standards at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, both at the factory and at the track."

Daniel Moxon