During the 2023 season, AlphaTauri has started a renewal process which, starting next year, will see the team change its look and management structure. After a long career at the helm of the Faenza team, Franz Tost will leave the role of Team Principal at the end of the year, being replaced by Laurent Mekies. Furthermore, Peter Bayer has assumed the role of CEO and is continuing negotiations for a new partnership that will lead to a name change for the team in the near future.
However, after having had a certain freedom on a technical level, the disappointing results obtained in 2022 and in this first part of 2023 have pushed Red Bull to review the investment made, proposing a push to forge an even deeper bond with the parent company .
This change in position will manifest itself in the presence of more staff in the UK, where AlphaTauri already has a dedicated department, but there are also plans to build a new facility, now in the planning stage. Furthermore, it was decided that the team will purchase a greater number of components from Red Bull for the 2024 championship, on the model of what happens between Ferrari and Haas.
Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Greater synergy between the two teams has led to the belief that next year’s car will present itself at the starting line as a sort of clone of the RB19, but technical director Jody Egginton denied the hypothesis: “Since we started the synergy in 2019 , the parts we chose from the menu were different, and for next year they will be a little different again,” he said.
“Compared to this year, a little more. Compared to a couple of previous years, it will probably be the same”, explained the engineer, without forgetting that before 2022, in reality, many elements were actually in common with Red Bull.
“At the end of the day, customer teams take notional value into account. So when you start purchasing parts from supplier teams, you have to keep an eye on the budget. But we will maximize what is available to us, because we try to do as much as possible”.
Although there was talk of closer ties between AlphaTauri and Red Bull at the beginning of the year, Egginton does not believe there is any substantial news, since he has always constantly evaluated which pieces to take and which not. In fact, if you have all the necessary equipment, from a purely economic point of view, some components are more convenient to make at home than to purchase from an external partner.
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04, Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
“I have read on a few occasions how it is communicated in the press, but the substance is that there are three sets of regulations, sporting, technical and financial. The headquarters [della Red Bull] it says to maximize what you can do.
“It’s become a little more public lately, for various reasons, and we’re encouraged to look at everything and explore every area. But there will be some things we can’t take. It’s become a little more common. We’re less competitive, so people say: you’re not fast enough, what are you doing? In 2020 and 2021, when the car was competitive, there was absolutely no question of it. We took a few pieces of Red Bull, and so be it.”
“So yes, we were encouraged. But it’s not really a control. But it’s nice to know that the people in charge at headquarters have our back and encourage both teams to maximize what they can do under the rules.”
Jody Egginton, Technical Director of Scuderia AlphaTauri
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Egginton said it had not been decided whether the Red Bull parts taken from AlphaTauri will be a year old or based on 2024 specifications, as was the case in 2021 when the Faenza team decided not to use all of the RB15’s rear end. However, the engineers are already well advanced with the creation of the chassis, which will be different from the one adopted this year.
“At the end of the day, our aerodynamic concept, even though we don’t have the highest performing car on the grid, is no different from others. We know what direction we want to go. Also, there are some optimizations and other things, but mainly we are driven by ‘aerodynamics’.
“So, the chassis will be substantially different. But in terms of changes at the concept level, we know what direction we are going. We are reasonably aligned with the direction taken by the other teams. We just need to be able to achieve these goals.”
#AlphaTauri #parts #Red #Bull #wont #clone