AlphaTauri goes for “strong evolution” with AT04 F1 car as first images released

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 in 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.”