For years the junior team has sat in Red Bull’s shadow, but 2021 might just be their year to come out into the light.
I didn’t want to do a full on preview/predictions for the 2021 F1 season; they’re everywhere at the moment, and to be honest there’s not much for me to add. Red Bull look strong, Haas look the opposite, Mercedes may be in a spot of trouble (or may just be sandbagging). But I thought I would do a little piece on the team that shocked me most during testing: Alpha Tauri.
In their first year having re-branded from Torro Rosso, the Faenza based outfit scored their best ever total of 107 points and ended up 7th, their best finish in the Constructors Championship being 6th place in 2008 and 2019. They have definitely looked to be on the up for the previous two seasons, 3 of their 4 podiums being achieved in that time.
The majority of F1 fans will see Alpha Tauri as simply the junior or sister team to Red Bull, a place for Helmut Marko to nurture his talent before giving them a chance at the top team (or unceremoniously showing them the door). But given the somewhat chaotic search for someone to fill the second Red Bull seat, Alpha Tauri found themselves for the first time last year with two former Red Bull drivers, and two podium sitters. And this year for the first time they are going into a season with a proven race winner in Pierre Gasly, who regardless of his win was one of my standout drivers from last year, with some sensational drives in Portugal and Belgium. He is partnered by Yuki Tsunoda, who looks like a bit of a firecracker.
Last season’s Rookie of The Year in F2, Yuki won 3 races to come home third in the championship and gain those all important super license points needed to graduate to F1. Whilst he may be one of 3 F1 rookies this year, he has the ability to adapt quickly to whatever race car he is driving in, evidenced by his rapid ascension through different junior formulas. He was able to quickly get to grips with the Pirelli tyres in F3, before graduating the following year to F2 where he showed considerable skill in tyre management. Those who have worked with him cite his dedication, work ethic, enthusiasm and effort to integrate well in his teams. Tsunoda only started his first full season in single-seaters in 2017, the same year Gasly made his F1 debut, but as we have seen in the past from the trust Red Bull placed in Max Verstappen, this shouldn’t necessarily be a problem.
Small changes in regulations for the 2021 season are intended to reduce downforce, slowing the cars down and reducing pressure on the tyres largely through adjustments to the floor. These modifications seem to have suited the teams running a high rake concept best, meaning the angle between the rear floor of the car and the ground is high. Red Bull and Alpha Tauri have always employed a high rake concept with their cars, and hence they look like the two teams who have managed to claw back the most speed from the regulation changes. Each team was given two tokens to spend on car development over the winter, Alpha Tauri electing to put theirs towards their nose and front suspension, the latter being remodelled using Red Bull parts.
Honda have brought their 2022 engine forward a year, hoping to exit the sport on a high, and its looking like the best power unit on the grid (at these early stages). And though we shouldn’t fall into the trap of drawing too much from testing, Alpha Tauri ran the most of laps across the three days (joint with Alfa Romeo), 422, the equivalent of nearly 7 and a half Grand Prix. Gasly also put down the most laps of anyone, with his 237 over double that of Sebastian Vettel’s 117. This is all testament to the reliability of their car, indicating an improvement from last year where Honda powered cars suffered 6 retirements due to issues in this area. In addition to this, their one lap pace looks very strong. If they can use this to their advantage in qualifying their drivers should have a decent shot at consistently scoring points, and even a couple of podiums.
Bahrain was not an ideal weekend for the team, plagued by bad luck. But even though they only managed to score two points, if you read between the lines, they showed a huge amount of promise. Gasly achieved 5th in quali but was massively compromised by contact on the first lap, the resulting damage leading to his retirement. Tsunoda was caught out in quali, but drove marvellously to place himself in 9th, an audacious overtake on Fernando Alonso showing he’s not afraid to battle with more experienced drivers.
All in all I would say that despite Lewis Hamilton supposedly not knowing who he is, Franz Tost’s team have entered the 2021 season meaning business.
