Important updates for AlphaTauri arrive from Faenza and Bicester to bring the AT04 closer to the shapes of the Red Bull RB19. Despite being the team that has modified its car the most during 2023, AlphaTauri shows no signs of stopping development.
Something had already been glimpsed at the beginning of the 2023 season. In fact, AlphaTauri‘s Technical Director, Jody Egginton, had explained how the team had reacted to the strong criticism of their TP. The AT04 was developed following objectives, which however were never fully achieved. And among these, there were the improvement of the car’s behavior at low speeds and the stability of the rear.
A season that started badly
We are talking about AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team which has not started this season well. All with results that did not meet their expectations. In fact, the Team Principal, Franz Tost, had shown himself disappointed with his engineers. The problems at AlphaTauri, however, are more technical than economic. And because of this, there was a reorganization within the team, reorganizing the entire technical department.
AlphaTauri’s new updates
We have almost reached the end of the season, but the AlphaTauri team has decided not to stop with the updates. Milton Keynes will bring its engineering support to the highest level, bringing “everything possible from Red Bull” to the new 2024 car. Recall that in Singapore, the AT04 had already fitted a new upper suspension, which slowed down developments a bit. This is because it is a sensitive element that alters the balance excessively. But it shouldn’t be a big deal.
This update package makes us understand that perhaps, the AT40 could move up the grid in a major way next. Furthermore, AlphaTauri will make the colors of the Red Bull logo appear clearly on the bodywork from 2024. And it will also take on its identity. No downsizing is planned for the Faenza facility in Italy. This is because an English hub will be created to work on simulations and connect with the main Red Bull team.
Meanwhile, the transformation work continues, and the updates will continue up to Abu Dhabi. Analyzing the design of the bellies and bottom, there is no doubt that the deep excavation will be faithfully reproduced. Furthermore, the power unit creates favorable conditions in the design of the cooling package. One aspect that hasn’t improved is the race pace gap in Japan which remained the same as that of Jeddah. In Austin there will be a revised bottom area to get more stable load. Another news is that, from the end of January, after 6 months of gardening by Ferrari, Laurent Mekies will take over as TP, thus replacing Franz Tost.
Towards 2024
Since 2022, AlphaTauri has been using Red Bull-style bodywork with beaten bellies. The most important interventions could concern the bottom, in an attempt to replicate the great three-dimensional complexity of the RB19. The Red Bull bottom stands out from the competition due to its abundance of ridges, valleys and indentations. These create pressure plays useful for closing the depression in the under body from the high-pressure external environment. In view of these conditions, we just have to wait for the end of the season. And above all, see which single-seater they will be able to come up with for the 2024 season.
