Formula 1

Brunner and Minardi make their departures

Fernando Alonso leaving Renault for McLaren in 2007 is not the only departure in F1 circles, as two other well known names have parted company with their teams with more immediate effect. Designer Gustav Brunner and Toyota have gone their separate ...

Edited: Dec 21, 2005, 1:50 AM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Fernando Alonso leaving Renault for McLaren in 2007 is not the only departure in F1 circles, as two other well known names have parted company with their teams with more immediate effect. Designer Gustav Brunner and Toyota have gone their separate ways and Gian Carlo Minardi has left the team he founded.

Brunner joined Toyota from Minardi in 2001 as chief designer but the Cologne-based outfit has since organised its chassis department into three groups and has decided the role is now redundant.

"With three groups running in parallel, one focusing on the current car, one concentrating on the next stage of development and the third looking at advanced design, the position of chief designer has become obsolete," said a team spokesperson, according to Reuters.

Speculation has it that Brunner may return to Faenza with Toro Rosso, Minardi's new incarnation. Meanwhile, Gian Carlo Minardi has said goodbye to Formula One after more than two decades in the sport. He founded Minardi in 1979 and entered F1 in 1985. The team was taken over by Paul Stoddart in 2001, who continued to employ Minardi.

Red Bull bought Minardi this year and has renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso. Reportedly Minardi said there was "a lack of common ground with the new team owners to carry on working". He and Red Bull apparently could not come to an agreement about what role he would have.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Renault R26 on schedule

Next article Willis aiming to win

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Fernando Alonso



Fernando Alonso 'beyond frustration' after engine issue in F1 Mexico GP qualifying

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Fernando Alonso 'beyond frustration' after engine issue in F1 Mexico GP qualifying



What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards



Fernando Alonso’s idea to ‘save’ F1 before the V8 return – and how realistic it is

Formula 1

Azerbaijan GP

Fernando Alonso’s idea to ‘save’ F1 before the V8 return – and how realistic it is

More from

McLaren



Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points



"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes



Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Formula 1

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Latest news



How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico

Formula 1

Mexican GP

How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico



Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees



Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak set for WRC return as Toyota announces bumper 2027 line-up

WRC

WRC WRC 2 h

Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak set for WRC return as Toyota announces bumper 2027 line-up



Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

5 h

Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup

Feature

Discover prime content



How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico



Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate



How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP



The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe