F1 Team Performance: AlphaTauri wants to forget last year’s tragedy. The man everyone wrote off will be in action

The start of the new Formula 1 season is fast approaching and with it the introduction of the individual teams is in full swing. Last season, we were looking in vain for a high-profile AlphaTauri team. This year they will try to fulfil their new ambitions with a new driver line-up.

AlphaTauri in 2022

In two words – big misery. While ninth place among the constructors is no great surprise in the team’s history, the Italian stable has dropped three places and more than a hundred points compared to 2022.

Together, Pierre Gasly and Júki Cunoda picked up just 35 points, or just 1.6 points per race. The team’s best big prize was in Azerbaijan, where Gasly finished fifth. Both riders failed to finish in the top 10 in any of their twenty-two attempts.

In the overall standings, the French driver finished fourteenth, while his Japanese teammate was as high as seventeenth. Also due to the poor results, the 27-year-old Gasly decided to leave the Faenza team and move “home”, riding for French Alpine.

No one was counting on him in F1 anymore, but…

Nyck de Vries was a relatively regular figure in the Formula One paddock last year. The Dutchman took part in a total of four race weekends as a test driver and was routinely seen in the Mercedes garage alongside boss Toto Wolff.

But one weekend changed the 28-year-old’s life. As late as Friday morning, he was still in the Aston Martin monocoque, driving the first practice session ahead of the Italian GP in place of Sebastian Vettel. But on Saturday, Alexander Albon dropped out with appendicitis and Williams was looking for a replacement.

The logical choice was de Vries, who was at Monza and was also one of the stable’s reserve drivers. The Dutch driver had already drawn attention to himself in qualifying, making it to Q2 and beating then teammate Nicholas Latifi.

After penalties served by five drivers ahead of him, the Formula E World Champion started from eighth position. And with most of his rivals behind him for the entire race, he was able to enjoy two points for ninth place.

Results are definitely expected from him this season. Moreover, judging by the results of the last two years, his teammate Cunoda might not pose such a big problem in terms of climbing. However, only the season will show his real form.

This year’s monoposto

As AlphaTauri enters its fourth season, this year’s formula is called AT04. At first glance, we can notice a change in the form of the red colour, which is related to the partnership with Orlen.

As the Faenza-based stable is not one of those with a big budget, the new formula is merely an evolution of last year’s concept. A concept that can’t be considered a success by any stretch of the imagination. As for the construction of the monoposto itself, one can notice the heavily undercut side panels, which are close to the Red Bull concept.

However, these were shown on the car last year. The Italian stable has made only minimal changes to the side this year. However, it should be added, they almost always only evaluate the exterior of the cars, because few people really see the mechanical part.

Where to start and what to improve?

Certainly from the first race of the season, in which AlphaTauri scored 27 points. The stable can undoubtedly build on these results. The placings from tracks with long straights like Monza, Baku or Bahrain are also interesting. Here the team was able to benefit from the excellent RBPT power unit supplied by Red Bull.

What needs to be improved, without question, is the performance of the Cunoda. The Japanese has only scored twelve points in 2022. Results must come from him this year, he will be going up against the only grand prix driver in F1.

Although Cunoda’s attitude has improved significantly from his debut season, the Japanese driver still needs to learn to tame his emotions. Given his unnecessary crashes in Canada and Singapore, he is not in a position to be a great driver. And the frequent shouting at the engineer also makes many spectators feel arrogant.

It’s virtually certain that we can’t expect a major rebellion from AlphaTauri this season at least. But the Italian team must take a step forward. Indeed, word is now circulating behind the scenes that Red Bull is about to put its subsidiary stable up for sale.

F1, Scuderia AlphaTauri