Long-time F1 engineer Alan Permane is off gardening leave and will soon join the team formerly known as Alpha-Tauri. He will join former Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies and new CEO Peter Bayer in the rebranded team. There has been a lot of speculation about the new team name, sponsors, and the like over the past few months; but we’ll address all that in a separate post. For now, it’s newsworthy that Permane has joined the (nominally) Faenza-based team.
Permane was pushed out of Alpine last July along with Otmar Szafnauer in a management reshuffle. He had been at “Team Enstone” for 34 years, which is an eternity in F1. He saw the team’s rise in the late 80s and championships with both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. He also endured the many management and ownership changes with the team during those years, which is another story entirely. Some describe his as a “rock” in Formula One since he has remained at Enstone for decades.
Well, no more.
Alpine’s loss was Red Bull Racing’s gain as they acquired his services and deep knowledge. This will certainly help them improve the <<insert new name here>> team and by extension the main RBR team. It also shows that there will be tighter integration between the two teams since more of the Faenza operations are moving to Milton Keynes. This will only increase as the 2026 season approaches with the new rule changes and power unit regulations. The Ford relationship beckons too meaning both teams will want to work as closely as possible with their new technical partner. Adding an experienced engineer like Alan Permane will greatly assist this effort.
I see this as a massive addition to the Red Bull Racing camp. If nothing else, they have prevented a highly skilled and experienced engineer from joining one of their rivals. Plus, they can use his considerable knowledge to improve Alpha-Tauri and lay the groundwork for closer collaboration with the RBR team. He’ll have a more stable environment to work in and better leadership too. This should lead to increased success for the Alpha-Tauri squad in the coming seasons. His presence and impact will really be felt in 2025 but joining now will allow him to build a solid foundation with the people that are already in place.
It’s a great move and should pay dividends in the near future. To me it also demonstrates that Red Bull Racing is serious about making Alpha-Tauri a full-fledged team and not just a junior squad. That means that a seat there will become even more highly coveted. So all around, a bold move by RBR.
