Season results: Scuderia AlphaTauri – all Formula 1 news 2023

The 2023 season went very rosy for AlphaTauri, with a change in the composition and the departure of the team leader…

They always expect more from Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri than they ultimately get, because this is Red Bull’s ‘sister’ team that uses their technology, and they declare that themselves before the start of the season. But the result was always substandard. expectations and over time they got used to it.

The team showed the livery of the new car in New York – the new owners of Red Bull combined the presentation with the presentation of a new clothing collection from the fashion brand AlphaTauri. But the idea of ​​​​promoting the brand did not work, so soon the team will probably change both the name and the strategy.

The team started the season with one lineup and ended with another. At the start of the year, Honda program participant Yuki Tsunoda’s partner was the elderly Nyck de Vries, the Formula 2 and Formula E champion, who impressed Helmut Marko with his performance for Williams in Monza last year.

At the start of the season, Tsunoda earned rare points, and de Vries couldn’t get used to it. The car was not suitable for him, he attacked with all his might – and regularly had accidents. Team leader Franz Tost used to say that the driver needed a few years to get used to it, but Helmut Marko decided differently – and right during the season, after ten ineffective Grand Prix and without even waiting for the summer holidays, he fired the driver. .

The experienced and charismatic Daniel Ricciardo was brought in as a replacement. The Australian was happy to be back in the spotlight. With all his charisma he showed that after leaving McLaren he felt good in a familiar environment where he felt at home.

Tsunoda stoically tolerated the arrival of a more experienced driver in the team, and De Vries, bound by the terms of the contract, did not comment on this attacking replacement. But the story didn’t end there.

Ricciardo, who took De Vries’ place, rode two stages and broke his arm in Zandvoort. The Australian had a nasty accident on Friday. In the fast corner of the third corner, Oscar Piastri’s car spun and was thrown into the wall. Ricciardo followed and he had no choice but to crash next to him to avoid hitting his opponent.

Daniel complained of pain in his hand and in hospital it turned out that one of the bones in his wrist was broken, so he returned to the paddock in a plaster cast and on Saturday he went to a specialist clinic in Barcelona.

In five races he was replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson, who performed very well and earned points on Singapore’s tricky city circuit. It was only in Austin that Ricciardo returned to action, and in Mexico City he performed well. After starting fourth, he finished seventh, earning his only points this season, but they really helped AlphaTauri.

At the end of the season, the biggest rivals stopped modifying the cars, and AlphaTauri just started releasing new products designed for the next season – and if the team earned only five points in the first 17 Grand Prix, then in the last five they earned twenty points at a time, which determined the position in the constructors’ championship.

The most important event was the announcement of the resignation of team leader Franz Tost. Franz took over Toro Rosso in 2006 and has worked with 17 drivers, including Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat.

Franz Tost: “This is my decision, which I started thinking about two years ago and discussed with Dietrich Mateschitz. When I was younger, I always reminded myself not to put myself in a leadership position. We need to free up positions for younger people – smarter, more creative and more motivated.

In my seventh decade, it’s time to say goodbye. I love Formula 1, but for me this story ends. We have invited two fantastic specialists to replace us: Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekis. I think this is the best time to leave. I am happy with the arrival of Peter and Laurent, because I expect that the team will take a big step forward together with them.

Formula 1 has a special place in my heart, I became a fan when I was about six or seven years old, and in my youth I always collected Formula 1 magazines, and after that working in this championship took a very big part of my life consuming. . But now I will continue to watch all the races while staying at home, I can say that for sure!”

In the final phase of the season in Abu Dhabi, white panels with AlphaTauri logos were installed next to the team’s pits, on which everyone could leave wishes for the Austrian Formula 1 veteran and their signature. It turned out to be moving.