AlphaTauri F1 struggled more than expected in 2022. 9th place in the Constructors’ Championship was not the expected result.
In retrospect, the sudden fire in Pierre Gasly’s car at the season opener in Bahrain that almost ended after two laps was the first sign of a disastrous season. The subsequent fires in Singapore were just one of the many setbacks that Red Bull Racing’s sister team faced in the 2022 season.
With the brakes not working optimally and Pierre Gasly scoring more penalty points than championship points, the search for a driver for 2023 has been a difficult one. Above all, the AlphaTauri AT03 wasn’t as competitive as it was in 2022.
With drastic changes to the technical regulations, AlphaTauri had high hopes of taking a structural step or at least remaining stable in the midfield. In 2021 AlphaTauri were always his third fastest team on the grid thanks to the excellent Pierre Gasly.
But we can draw the conclusion that AlphaTauri was completely wrong with the new generation F1 car.
The biggest issue this year was car weight. Throughout the season, Alpha Tauri said he was 12-13 kilos overweight and was unable to lose weight. The extra weight cost the driver about 0.35 seconds per lap from him. Plus, a heavier car means more tire wear and overheating. AlphaTauri’s engineers thought the car’s concept was basically fine, but the extra weight ultimately hurt its performance.
F1 teams have an obligation to design cars. However, purchasing certain parts from other teams is permitted. As a sister team, AlphaTauri has done so for years with his Red Bull Racing. It reduces costs and eliminates the need to invest in development, but may come at the expense of performance. That was the case with Alpha Tauri.
The parts purchased were designed for Red Bull vehicles. This meant it wasn’t an optimal fit for AlphaTauri’s design. Moreover, Red Bull is developing very rapidly. In many cases, AlphaTauri suddenly had to get a completely modified part at the last minute and put it on the car the best they could. In terms of aerodynamics, this is less than optimal.
That’s also why AlphaTauri will start producing more parts in 2023, with less reliance on Red Bull.
AlphaTauri also hopes to forget the disappointment of 2022 with a new line-up of Hiroki Tsunoda and newcomer Nick de Vries, along with a new car.
A new driver duo marks the end of Pierre Gasly’s era at AlphaTauri. As we all know, Gasly will move to the Alpine F1 team. Gasly’s departure is hardly a sad one. Gasly was the fastest of the two drivers, but seemed to lose a bit of his luster in the unwieldy AlphaTauri. Some incidents were heavily penalized and the sheer number of penalties his points were also a kind of frustration. But there is no doubt that the new environment will have a positive effect on his Gasly.
AlphaTauri’s failure to obtain F1 superlicence approval from the FIA to sign Colton Hertha was another moment of bad luck for the team. But with the advent of Nick de Vries, it seems a suitable successor has been found. The question is whether De Vries can take over Gasly’s role as his team leader any time soon. Yuki Tsunoda is not ready for the F1 baddock reaction.
For now, AlphaTauri’s factory has raised expectations for the 2023 F1 machine. But wasn’t last winter the same? AlphaTauri can’t afford another disastrous season of his own. In that case, the gap to direct rivals will grow to heights that cannot be bridged in the years to come. The team has a rocky 2023 season ahead.
Category: F1 / Alpha Tauri