Permane reveals mixed feelings of "shock" and "pride" after promotion

Permane now finds himself in the hot seat at Racing Bulls in the aftermath of the game of musical chairs within the Red Bull Formula 1 operations, which saw Christian Horner out of Red Bull Racing after around 20 years, with Mekies taking over his office in Milton Keynes.

Permane is one of the most respected figures in the F1 paddock, with a career that spans over 35 years, mostly spent at Enstone, the home of the Alpine F1 Team, having been part of that operation over the years that saw it transform from Benetton to Renault to Lotus and finally Alpine, which he left following a management shakeup two years ago that saw Otmar Szafnauer being ousted as team principal.

With his credentials, it was a matter of time until Permane would find a new job in F1, and indeed, at the start of 2024, he was signed by Racing Bulls as their Racing Director.

And when Red Bull decided to let Horner go days after the British Grand Prix and assign Mekies as Red Bull Racing boss, Permane was given the nod for the team principal job of Racing Bulls.

Speaking of his emotions following his promotion, Permane said: "I had many reactions to the news, some shock, some pride.

"It's amazing that they feel I'm capable and have the potential to lead this team. I deeply thank the Red Bull Austria senior management, Oliver Mintzlaff and Helmut Marko, and, of course, Laurent for recommending me, pushing me forward, his belief in me as well. It's been a great week," he added.

Permane takes over the reins at Racing Bulls in the middle of an ongoing F1 season in which the team have been performing quite well, with their cars frequently featuring in the top ten, and he plans to maintain the status quo for now.

"Well, the plan of action is to keep things as they are," he stated. "Laurent and [CEO] Peter [Bayer] have done a fantastic job with this team over the last 18 months, leading to a surge in competitiveness.

"And my plan is to keep that running, keep the team on the same trajectory as it's been on. It's a great team and I know that the senior Red Bull guys are extremely happy with the way the team is being run. They're very happy with our competitiveness.

"The target is to be top of the midfield, and we are certainly in a battle for that and we'll continue that fight throughout this year," the 58-year-old engineer maintained.

However, this new job means changes to his way of life. Permane explained: "From my side, it's certainly going to mean some more travel.

"I'm predominantly based in Milton Keynes. In my previous role as racing director, I did spend some time in Italy, but it will no doubt mean I will split my time between the two sites.

"Probably a little bit more on the Faenza side, where that larger part of the team is," he pointed out.

An F1 team's Sporting Director is a key staff member on the pit wall, with a post-Jonathan Wheatley Red Bull a prime example of that, but being a Team Principal is a different gig.

Permane explained: "I think sporting director gives you a decent grounding. It's a much bigger role, of course. As a sporting director, you manage a group of 60 or 70 people.

"You sit on FIA committees. You work with the FIA, with stewards, with penalties and protests and things like that. So, you have a very good grounding and basis to take this job on, but it's of course a much bigger role.

"There will be many things that are new, but I'm very ready to take it on and then I'm confident I'll do a good job," he vowed.

The aforementioned Wheatley has become Team Principal at Sauber/Audi after a successful stint as Sporting Director at Red Bull Racing and has done a decent job turning the Hinwil-based team around, with Nico Hulkenberg's Silverstone podium as proof.

Permane and Wheatley's relationship goes way back to when they both worked at Benetton with seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher.

"We've grown up together," Permane said, looking back on his relationship with Wheatley. "We both worked on Michael's car.

"In those days I was an electronics engineer, Jonathan was number two mechanic. And that's where our friendship started.

"We worked together for many years, Benetton, then Renault, and then of course he's moved on to Red Bull and now to Audi."

And while Wheatley clearly had ambitions of becoming an F1 team boss, Permane was asked if he had similar plans for his career; he responded: "Honestly, no. I've been much more of a technical or a sporting guy.

"But now it's happened, I'm relishing it. It's going to be a great challenge for me, and I'm really looking forward to it," Permane concluded.

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)