Scuderia AlphaTauri have unveiled their new look and new car – the AT01 – at a launch event in Austria.
Formula 1’s newest team, Scuderia AlphaTauri, have revealed their new look at an event in Austria. While the former Toro Rosso team has a new identity, little within the team has changed. Nevertheless, their launch event marks a new chapter for the Italian squad. Hosted by former Red Bull driver David Coulthard at Red Bull’s Hangar-7 in Salzburg, the launch event combined Formula 1 and fashion. Ahmet Mercan, General Manager of AlphaTauri, spoke of the fashion brand’s desire to innovate within F1:
“The engagement of AlphaTauri in the premiere class of motorsports is a strategical and long-term decision. As a fashion brand AlphaTauri fuses fashion and function with innovation and the F1 environment allows AlphaTauri to progress and certify its innovations and textile technologies. All learnings and gained knowledge within this pioneer hub will be translated into the core AlphaTauri collections.”
.
The team will once again field Pierre Gasly alongside Daniil Kvyat for their 2020 campaign. Last season, Toro Rosso took two podium finishes, with Kvyat finishing third in Germany and Gasly finishing as runner-up in Brazil. They equalled their best ever championship result, with sixth. Read more: Toro Rosso’s 2019 Season In Stats. At the launch, Team Principal Franz Tost spoke of his desire for AlphaTauri to compete in the top five teams:
“In 2019, we had a very successful season with two podiums and finished 6th position in the Constructors’ Championship, it was a fantastic year for us and our best season since 2008. We are satisfied with our achievements, but now we are hungry for more, we made excellent progress on the technical front and in terms of how we manage the race weekend, so we intend to build on that to improve further. 2020 will be a special challenge for all the teams, as we have to develop two car concepts because of the new regulations for 2021. For smaller teams like ours, in terms of resources and personnel, we will have to face the complex task of finding the right balance between pushing forward on the development of this year’s car – the AT01 – and working on its successor for 2021, a year which heralds a new era for Formula 1 as it will undergo radical changes, not least in terms of the technical regulations that apply to the design of the cars. This does not have to distract us from our big task to look into every detail at every race to avoid mistakes as much as possible and take any opportunity that may arise in such a tight midfield pack.”
The AT01 will run for the first time on Saturday, during a filming day at Misano. Daniil Kvyat will be first to test out the machinery.
How do you think AlphaTauri will get on in their first season? Leave a comment below!