The Scuderia AlphaTauri team showed off its new colour scheme at an event hosted in the Lincoln Centre, during New York fashion week.
The tweaked livery features slightly more red than last year, which has been prompted by a new sponsorship deal with PKN Orlen.
Team principal Franz Tost said that the squad’s decision to hold its livery launch in the United States was testament to the growth of Formula 1 in the country.
“As we know, Formula 1 has seen a huge increase in popularity due to the likes of Netflix and social media over the last few years,” he said.
“So, it’s extremely important that we continue to grow in this market, which is why I’m pleased we were able to launch our 2023 livery here today in New York City to show our appreciation to the US audience.”
AlphaTauri is coming off the back of a quite difficult 2022 campaign, where it finished ninth in the constructors’ championship after failing to make the most of the opportunities of the new rules.
The team’s biggest problem was a lack of consistency with its car, with Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda able to fight for some good points on some weekends but then being well adrift on others.
The AT03 appeared especially well-suited to slow speed venues but struggled more at the faster circuits when downforce demands increased.
There have been suggestions that the team will go for a different concept with its AT04 that could bring it more in line with what sister team Red Bull has done.
The 2023 designs that have been revealed by other teams are already pointing towards a number of teams taking ideas from last year’s dominant RB18, so it would make perfect sense for AlphaTauri to follow suit.
AlphaTauri has also made some changes on the driver front with Gasly having been replaced by Nyck de Vries.
The former Formula E driver was signed by the team in the wake of his impressive Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix, when he stood in for Alex Albon at Williams, taking a ninth-place result.
AlphaTauri has high hopes that de Vries, despite being a rookie, can help give the team the guidance it needs to move up the order.
Speaking last year, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said: “Of course. Yuki is young and doesn’t have this experience and background, so [Nyck] should lead the team.
“We will see how it goes next year, but from the experience and the personality he has, he should be the team leader.”
Social media and official website:
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1624537683941883907?cxt=HHwWhoC8-dKawostAAAA
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1624539274589634560?cxt=HHwWgICwmZ73wostAAAA
https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/it/at04/
https://youtu.be/ZQ20TZPtmA4
News stories:
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/11/first-pictures-alphatauri-presents-its-new-look-for-the-2023-f1-season/
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12807922/formula-1-launches-alphatauri-reveal-new-look-for-2023-season
https://the-race.com/formula-1/alphatauri-2023-f1-car-launch-alphatauri-unveils-new-car-and-revised-livery-for-f1-2023/
https://the-race.com/formula-1/alphatauri-2023-f1-car-launch-gary-anderson-alphatauri-should-copy-red-bull-more-than-this/
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.gallery-every-angle-of-alphatauris-new-livery-for-the-2023-f1-season.6YtZnbWT6RKUqmq7aOUKPm.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.first-look-alphatauri-reveal-livery-for-2023-at04-at-glitzy-new-york-f1.lnlL0m6mx00T5YtQT3Eyf.html
AlphaTauri says the new AT04 Formula 1 car is a ‘strong evolution’ of last year’s car as it needed to address the shortcomings it faced in 2022.
The Italian squad held a livery launch in New York on Saturday night and also took the opportunity to release some basic renders of its 2023 challenger.
The actual AT04 will have a shakedown at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Tuesday, ahead of the start of pre-season testing at Bahrain on February 23.
While the renders issued on Saturday do not show much detail on the car, they do point to it having different sidepod inlets.
The downwash area also has a ramp that the AT03 did not, while the nose and front wing are similar to the concept used at the end of last season.
Technical director Jody Egginton explained that the squad had tried to be aggressive with the packaging and aero improvements in a bid to lift downforce levels, with this having been a key weakness last year.
Reflecting on what the team took on board from its tricky 2022 campaign, Egginton said: “We learned a lot from the AT03 during its development, and a lot of that information went into the overall layout of the AT04 in order to address some of the shortcomings identified on last year’s car.
“Simply put, we lacked some downforce compared to our main competitors and identified opportunities to reduce mass.”
He added: “Almost all areas of the car represent a strong evolution from the AT03, and great attention was paid to packaging so that we would have the best basis for aerodynamic development.”
Although sister team Red Bull produced the best car last year, as Max Verstappen secured his second world title, AlphaTauri has steered clear of ramping up the number of parts it purchases from Milton Keynes.
“The synergy program continues with a similar basis as in previous years,” added Egginton. “It is extremely beneficial for us, so we will continue on this path.
“We keep some components with the same specifications as last year, while others have been modified, but the total range of components purchased from Red Bull remains virtually the same.
“This is a strategic choice we make from time to time, but overall it represents continuity with what we did last year.”
Source: Motorsport.com