Alan Permane secures Racing Bulls role through 2031

Alan Permane will remain Racing Bulls team principal through the end of the 2031 season, after Red Bull agreed a new contract with the team leader.

Permane joined the Faenza-based squad, then known as RB, as racing director ahead of the 2024 campaign. He took over as team principal after Laurent Mekies left to replace Christian Horner at Red Bull.

His career with the outfit follows a long spell at the team that became Alpine. Permane worked there from 1989 to 2023, holding several positions, including race engineer and sporting director.

Racing Bulls’ points haul has risen each season

The team has accumulated 46 points in 2024, followed by 92 last year and 108 so far this season. It is now all but certain to finish fifth in the constructors’ championship, which would be its best result since its origins as Minardi in 1985.

Permane has credited the team’s development work for its progress. Speaking at the Baku round, he said the car had gained downforce through the year and that each upgrade introduced had worked.

The team’s recent trajectory was also central to Red Bull’s decision to extend his tenure. Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s CEO of Corporate Projects and Investments, praised Permane’s experience and contribution to the team’s improvement. He pointed to the leadership partnership between Permane and co-CEO Commercial Peter Bayer as a source of continuity for the organisation.

Permane says the team still has work to do

Permane described himself as proud to continue with the squad and thanked Red Bull for its backing. He credited the effort of staff at the track, in Faenza and in Milton Keynes, while saying the fight for fifth reflected years of work across the organisation.

He also made clear that the target is not an endpoint: Permane believes the team has the people and culture to keep moving forward. The new deal gives him the opportunity to lead that effort for several more seasons.

For more on the team principal’s involvement in Racing Bulls’ driver pathway, read our coverage of Permane naming Nikola Tsolov as next in line for promotion and his response to speculation over Tsolov’s 2027 seat.