Two years ago in the Spa paddock for the Belgium Grand Prix, it was announced Alan Permane would bring an end to an extraordinary 34-year stint at the Enstone team, now known as Alpine, after being let go.
It was a tough moment for Permane, who had been in charge of the trackside team. Few knew the squad better than him. He was told the Tuesday before that Spa would be his last weekend and having spent almost all of his working life with the squad, which ran as Benetton, Renault and Lotus, and for the first time in more than three decades, his future was uncertain.
But then the phone rang. It was Laurent Mekies, who Permane had got to know over the years – particularly when they were both sporting directors of Renault and Ferrari respectively. Mekies was charged with rebuilding Racing Bulls – and he wanted Permane to join in the more senior role of Racing Director.
Permane accepted, kicking off ahead of last season, and he looked reborn. Eighteen months after that, he got another phone call ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix – it was a significantly better one than that from Alpine’s boss.
This time, it was the Red Bull senior management on the line and they wanted to know if he fancied stepping up into the big job to replace Red Bull-bound Mekies.
“I was told the week after Silverstone what was happening,” says Permane, when we chat on the the sofas in the ski chalet-inspired Red Bull Energy Station. “First of all, was it something I’d considered? No?
“It’s not something that’s ever been on my radar, but would I help the team out and step into this role and of course when Red Bull come knocking you can’t say no, and it’s a fantastic opportunity of course for me.
“It’s quite a change. I’m a trackside guy, I’ve spent my life at the track. There you manage teams of 60 to 100 people, and now it’s another step so there’s that to take into consideration but [I’m] very much looking forward to it.”
‘Mekies has been great to me’
Mekies is believed to have campaigned for Permane to take the role following his own promotion. The two have become friends as well as colleagues and he will remain a close ally given the two teams are under the same umbrella.
“He’s very kind,” adds Permane. “He’s been great to me. He said just be yourself and you’ll be fine so I’ll keep that in the back of my head. He’s been super helpful.”
There was widespread support for Permane’s new job within the paddock, the 58-year-old having become a highly-respected member of the F1 world.
When he was let go by Alpine last year, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described Permane as “one of the rocks of F1” and “certainly someone with a lot of knowledge”.
Then Red Bull boss Christian Horner added: “He’s very much been a constant there during that period. I think that earns respect and recognition.”
It’s no surprise then that the reaction to his new role has been positive. “It’s been lovely, honestly I’ve been very humbled by the reaction,” Permane says.
“One of the very first messages that I had was from [Alpine executive adviser] Flavio Briatore, that made me so proud.
“He left me a voice note saying he was ‘so happy for you’, that was lovely. My phone blew up on that Wednesday and I’m very lucky to have that sort of support.”
It’s the biggest job he’s ever had – but not one that seems to be fazing him.
“The differences will be as I say managing people who are not track people, that’s something that will be new to me,” he adds.
“I have done that in the past where various technical departments in Enstone sat under me but it’s all been track focused as well, it’s all been delivering or building stuff for the track. This will be a far broader role and this will be something I need to do, but I’m very ready for that.”
He added: “It’s a management role, it’s a people role. I always remember my first day as a race engineer, I remember Pat Symonds giving me the clipboard and saying you’re running the car today sort of thing at a test and I say to people now, one of the things they don’t tell you about being a race engineer is you suddenly become a manager.
“You’ve suddenly got 10 people when the car comes in looking at you for what do we do next. You very quickly learn management skills from those days.”
Racing Bulls’ targets
Racing Bulls have emerged as a strong midfield force, scoring points in six of 12 races so far this year, which puts them seventh in the Teams’ Championship on 36 points.
Kick Sauber are just five points up the road – with Williams 18 further up. P5, the long-held but never achieved target of the team’s former long-time boss Franz Tost, is very much in play.
So, what have the board set Permane as his immediate targets?
“The goals are clear,” he says. “The goals are to keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep the good work that Laurent and Peter [Bayer] have started and just keep that trajectory.
“Go racing with a smile on our faces, go racing with a good spirit and of course success on track is a very important part of what we do. Certainly we’ve improved this year compared with last year and we’ll be looking to keep that trajectory going.”
And what about his personal goals?
“I don’t want to set targets and say we need to have a podium or need to score this many points or need to finish in this position in the championship,” he says.
“I just want to make sure we’re getting the best out of the cars, the designers and the production team have given us to race and if we can do that, then we’ll have a good last half of the season.”
