Alpha Tauri showed clear growth at the end of 2023, thanks to crucial updates to the AT04 from the Singapore Grand Prix. However, having had an uncompetitive car for over half the season, they fell just short of P7 in the standings. However, if we analyse the season from Singapore onwards, the picture is more positive for the Italian outfit.
The Faenza team was the seventh-best team in this stretch, behind Red Bull (277), Mclaren (187), Mercedes (181), Ferrari (178), Aston Martin (65) and Alpine (47).
After the updates that “Red Bull-ized” Ricciardo and Tsunoda’s car, the AT04 has been very competitive at various circuits.
The feedback received in the tunnel was more than positive. As it stands, AlphaTauri could make one of the biggest leaps over the winter – a title which Aston Martin earned last year.
The new board rejected a super offer to sell, reviving AlphaTauri’s importance
2024 will mark a watershed moment for the Faenza team. The team, which has inherited the legacy left by Minardi, has an increasingly rooted imprint towards Red Bull in the future.
A clear decision by the new board, headed by Oliver Mintzlaff, has ensured this new direction. The forty-seven-year-old German and the new board of directors rejected an offer close to a billion dollars for the sale of AlphaTauri.
Mintzlaff will also limit the influence of Horner and Marko, both on the technical and sporting side (Red Bull Junior Team).
All this will happen as the team receives more high-priority investments. At least officially, there is no plan to leave Faenza in the very short term.
However, the largest investments have been and will be used mostly for the UK-based Bicester headquarters, which are being expanded and updated.
The most aerodynamic-focused part of the team is present in England, featuring crucial infrastructures for this new generation of cars. These include the Milton Keynes tunnel, while in Italy, there is the design office of the chassis, the car body, as well as the RBPT Power Unit installation and production of composite materials.
A change which, to be even more evident to external eyes, will also involve a new team name. According to the latest rumours, which could be confirmed shortly, the Italian team will be called ” Racing Bulls” and supported by two important American sponsors.
The management will change with the farewell of Franz Tost and the entry, as Team Principal, of former Ferrari Laurent Mekies. The Frenchman will be operational in the first days of January, although the pre-settlement within the team will take place in the last days of December.
No copy-paste, but the 2024 Racing Bulls will have the RB19’s pull-rod front suspension
The car that will debut in Bahrain is already largely defined in its aerodynamic guise, resulting in an important development of the AT04 that raced at the end of 2023.
Although there are rumours that speak of a strong familiarity with the RB19, which dominated the world championship just concluded, in reality, the AT04 will not be a copy of the RB19.
However, the new car will have an aerodynamic imprint of the Red Bull school, especially at the front. The main innovation compared to 2023 will be the introduction of mechanics entirely made in Milton Keynes, with the implementation of the front suspension of the RB19.
The installation of such important macro components, months later or even in the following season, derives from the fact that the new specifications are delivered by Red Bull once fully developed and defined for their car.
As such, it is too late for AlphaTauri/Racing Bulls to design the car based on them.
The first Racing Bulls, with the RB19’s pull-rod front suspension, will have a slightly lower front centre of gravity and a significantly revised chassis.
The body, in addition to being prepared with new attachments to house the new suspension layout and the related steering column, will have a more “keel” shape in the lower front section, just like the RB19.
This solution has been present since 2023 on Newey and Waché’s car. It will also be taken up by the staff serving Jody Egginton – offering more air to the underbody in the direction of the Venturi channels.
The aerodynamics in the front part will, therefore, inevitably have a “more Red Bull” philosophy also in the area of the front wing and in the Venturi entrances.
The rest of the single-seater will instead be more independent from the parent company, with a mix of the abovementioned concepts in McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams.
The FIA’s technical office has already clarified several times that nothing has been found that could prove direct cooperation between Red Bull and the Faenza team, despite Toto Wolff’s concerns after Yuki Tsunoda’s excellent performance in Abu Dhabi.
However, it is understood that the FIA wants to impose further controls and verification procedures – to avoid intentional data leaks between top teams and satellite teams.
Authors: Rosario Giuliana & Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Co-Author: Giuliano Duchessa
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
