AlphaTauri started the 2022 Formula 1 season in the least expected way, that is, with great difficulty. If you just look at the final race standings, you can see that the AT03s have always managed to take points in the first three races of the year, but have only managed to get a total of 10.
Yuki Tsunoda scored at Sakhir, contributing 4 points. Pierre Gasly added 6 between Jeddah (4) and Albert Park (2), which places the team in eighth place in the constructors’ standings, out of a total of ten teams.
After seeing these first three races, it can be deduced that the AT03 is a good car, but also that it does not live up to initial expectations. It seems to have an unexpected fragility, something that has caused both drivers to drop points along the way.
After closing the first triptych outside Europe, F1 is preparing to celebrate its first weekend on the old continent. Specifically, the grand prix will take place at Imola, AlphaTauri’s home race.
The team is based in Faenza and the Enzo e Dino Ferrari track is the circuit where it has carried out the most tests with its cars in recent years.
For the home race, the team led by Franz Tost has prepared important news. Gasly was in charge of announcing it, after getting two points in Australia. The team’s goal is to improve the performance of the AT03 to get back to the front of the midfield.
In Australia, both McLaren and Alpine have shown that they have the wherewithal to challenge for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship and so the Italian outfit has every intention of responding and doing so convincingly in front of its own home crowd.
“We are only in the third race of the year and then the car will be subject to updates in the coming weeks,” said Gasly. “I am confident in the team and the updates we will bring.”
“In Melbourne it cost us more than our rivals. McLaren came back strong, took a good step forward, and so did Alpine. We can be happy with the points achieved, especially considering that we were unlucky with the exit of the Safety Car in that moment”.
“I’m looking forward to racing at Imola because we’ll have a couple of new parts on the car. We’re not slow, but we need a bit of development for the AT03 if we want to keep up with our direct rivals.”
“Imola will be important for us, I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve. We will race there with the new generation of cars, the new regulations. We know that this is a season where developments will count a lot and whoever develops their car better and faster You will have a big advantage over others.”
“I think Imola will be a great test for us because we will have new parts. We hope to get the performance that we expect.”
Aside from the upgrades to improve the AT03’s performance, Gasly believes another very important issue is reliability. The Faenza car shares the rear axle with the Red Bull RB18s and, given the lack of reliability of the cars driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, the Frenchman is not calm. One only has to remember its premature abandonment in Bahrain, with the rear end of the AT03 on fire.
“Reliability-wise, we still don’t know what happened to Verstappen at Albert Park. But it’s a fact that reliability is something that AlphaTauri needs to improve,” concluded the Frenchman.
