Scuderia AlphaTauri is essentially owned by the Austrian energy drink company, Red Bull, the same team that owns the previous Constructors’ title, Oracle Red Bull Racing. It can be traced back to 1985 when the team was called Minardi, but Red Bull has had ownership of the constructor since the 2006 season. It was known as Scuderia Torro Rosso until the 2020 season when Red Bull decided to use the name ‘AlphaTauri’ to promote their fashion brand.
Torro Rosso has been the breeding ground for aspiring drivers from Red Bull and has produced a few notable names such as 4X WDC champion Sebastian Vettel, reigning 2X WDC champion Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pierre Gasly.
take it in from all angles, the new AT04 has arrived! 🤙 pic.twitter.com/Dw1eC0lueH
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) February 11, 2023
This season AlphaTauri will be competing with Nyck De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda at the wheel after the departure of Frenchman Pierre Gasly to Alpine. The AlphaTauri AT04 is powered by the Honda RBPTH001 and weighs 1760 lbs. The aerodynamics have been tweaked too.
The ground effect, which is a characteristic of the prevailing generation of cars, is caused by two tunnels that run along the floor, generating a larger percentage of downforce from the undersurface of the car.
Year 4️⃣ for AlphaTauri sees the team dipping back to its roots with splashes of red on top of blue 👀
Which livery has been your favourite since 2019? 🤔#F1 #Autosport pic.twitter.com/B1OA0RXRyy
— Autosport (@autosport) February 12, 2023
The FIA has fine-tuned last year’s regulations in this important area, slightly raising the height of the car floor off the ground and lowering the flexibility of the floor to eliminate the annoying porpoising occurrence, which saw cars bounce upward and downward at high speeds last year.
Fans react to the AlphaTauri AT04
Fans have expressed their opinions on the all-new AT04 on Twitter and so far, views are pretty polarizing. One fan even said, “That launch was an embarrassment. To go to New York and hype it up for THAT? I didn’t even have time to see the actual car”.
That launch was an embarrassment. To go to New York and hype it up for THAT? I didn’t even have time to see the actual car🙄
— Siwikiwi (@Siwikiwi) February 11, 2023
I’m digging the new livery!
— SnowX2K5 (@Snowx2k5) February 11, 2023
I think it could look much better with swapped Orlen colors. White background and red logo – like on the nose. But anyway, not to shabby – was afraid with our Polish red beeing accomodated on AT colors 🙂
— OjKosznicki (@OKosznicki) February 12, 2023
Most fans saw the Orlen logo in red stick out to disrupt the car’s aesthetics. Others said that the launch was underwhelming and the fashion line overshadowed the car launch.
AlphaTauri’s 2022 seasno
The 2022 season was pretty disappointing for Scuderia AlphaTauri as they finished 9th in the Constructor’s standings scoring 35 points compared to their last two seasons where they finished with 107 and 142 points respectively.
Pierre Gasly commented on the 2022 season that “It’s not so much that the car is bad, but we’ve suffered from being extremely overweight all season.”
Yuki Tsunoda, the Japanese driver said “I enjoyed it but as a team, we struggled. A shame but it is what it is.”
AlphaTauri was one of the teams that severely struggled with the porpoising and Helmut Marko has mentioned that the season was disappointing in all ways.
AlphaTauri’s 2023 Sponsors, Plans, and Strategy
The all-new AT04 is similar to the AT03 but now features the new highlights of red, displaying their new sponsor ORLEN on the wings and sides. ORLEN sponsored rivals Alfa Romeo till this season but now has tied up with AlphaTauri this year.
launching during New York Fashion Week 💯 👌 pic.twitter.com/1dG3OJrHlz
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) February 12, 2023
The team boss Franz Tost has commented on the new livery “I think that the whole field will be much closer together. Of course, the big three teams still have an advantage from their infrastructure, from the personnel side, but I’m quite convinced that in 2023 the cars will be much more evenly matched”
It will be interesting to see two young drivers rise up to fight up to Red Bull standards after Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon’s inability to consistently in the Red Bull car alongside Max Verstappen. There is surely a lookout for a new blooming driver from the side of Oracle Red Bull Racing, and both of the drivers have the potential to stand out.