AlphaTauri 2023 represents a sort of transition year between past, present and future. In fact, as already announced in recent months, starting from next season the team will change its name, also strengthening the technical relationship with Red Bull.
However, the Italian team wants to conclude the current championship on a high note and prepare the ground for what will be 2024 also on a technical level. Starting from this weekend, the Faenza team will bring substantial aerodynamic innovations, to which will also be added some minor mechanical updates.
On the eve of the Singapore event, Yuki Tsunoda, the driver with the most experience with this car having contested the entire season aboard the AT04, described it as the most significant package of the world championship. The hope is that it can help improve the position in the standings, starting from a track where last year the Japanese driver proved to be quite competitive.
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“We have a lot of updates for this Grand Prix. I would say we hope it’s one of the bigger packages, because we’re making a lot of updates also from an aerodynamic point of view, which is the main part we’re working hard on to increase performance, but there are also a couple of pieces on the mechanical part. However, the efforts are mainly from an aerodynamic point of view. This is what we hope to change, this aerodynamic material we hope can change our ranking.”
It is not the first time that AlphaTauri has presented itself with a significant package during this season, but they have not always had the desired effects, as happened at Silverstone, where the Japanese had not felt any major steps forward. However, with the updates planned for Singapore, Tsunoda has greater confidence and says he has already felt the progress during the tests carried out on the simulator, in particular in terms of rear stability, an aspect that had significantly penalized Nyck De Vries during his adventure in AlphaTauri.
“Already in the simulator I felt more differences compared to Silverstone”, explained the representative of the Faenza team.
“At Silverstone, in the simulator, I didn’t feel a huge difference, a little bit of a difference in terms of lap time just due to the load. This time, however, I noticed a bit of a change in the characteristics [della macchina]. The direction is still similar to what we have now, but in addition there is a little more support from the rear on entry, where we were lacking.”
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Erik Junius
“Obviously in the simulator it is difficult to perceive the difference and on the track there are many more things to do, so we have to check, but for now we are in a good direction and the lap time gain was much higher than that achieved in the simulator at Silverstone . So I feel quite optimistic.”
The issue of rear instability is an aspect felt not only by Tsunoda and De Vries, but also by Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson who, beyond the work on the simulator, have had the opportunity to alternate at the wheel of the AT04 since the Hungarian GP on. Improving on this issue will also ensure greater confidence for drivers.
“I think we know that we lack support from the back, [questo è] especially the feedback from Daniel and Liam, so I think the direction we are taking with the updates is definitely the right one and we hope that this will also gain us riders in terms of trust,” added Tsunoda.
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