Reorganisation at AlphaTauri: Tost rightly intervenes, but time is short

The fact that Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes are out of reach this season was to be expected. Then again, nobody expected Aston Martin to make such a big step forward, but the difference from McLaren and Alpine is very big. Now these are still big brands, but racing teams like Haas F1, Alfa Romeo and Williams also seem to have a slight edge. The question is: how can that be when you have Red Bull as a big brother?

Team boss Franz Tost recently announced a major reorganisation, a sign of things to come and an acknowledgement that people are dissatisfied with how things are going. The target declared by Tost at the beginning of the season was sixth in the constructors' championship, but that position is way off, despite having only three weekends behind us. Staff have been laid off, and you can't call that unjustified because in 2022 AlphaTauri did not achieve the desired result with a ninth-place finish among the constructors.

It is adequate intervention by Tost after three races, but 'intensifying' the cooperation with Red Bull further? What does the Austrian mean by that? Why wasn't the collaboration already maximised? Indeed all of Red Bull's knowledge and expertise is very useful for AlphaTauri. Sometimes the principle 'better copied than invented' works better.

The AT04 is not competitive for De Vries

Of course, the FIA strictly enforces that no literal copy of the RB18 or RB19 appears on the grid. Many of the parts AlphaTauri can adopt are not directly related to performance. But you also have knowledge. Knowledge you can exchange because Red Bull know about several things whether they work or not. That was already happening, but not enough, it seems.

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De Vries picked up one point in his F1 career, but that was not at AlphaTauri. (Photo: Red Bull Content Pool)

In a poll on this website, 75% of visitors stated that we will not see Nyck de Vries back in Formula 1 in 2024. The majority think the Dutchman is not good enough, but that is difficult in an AT04 that is not competitive for the time being and lacks grip and balance. With this AlphaTauri, there is no beginning (yet), although Yuki Tsunoda shows there is more to it.

Can Key get things back on track?

James Key left for McLaren in 2019. His right-hand man Jody Egginton (already involved with what was then called Toro Rosso from 2014), was promoted to technical director. Key has since been sacked from McLaren and would be an excellent man for AlphaTauri (and for Ferrari for that matter). The technician knows how the organisation works. He knows Tost and Egginton and had successes with his former employer. So he might be an interesting option for the placed ninth in the championship. 

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James Key with Franz Tost in 2017.

After the Australian GP, Egginton had to admit that AlphaTauri did not meet the targets they set themselves. Nevertheless, he is still confident that AlphaTauri will connect with the midfield teams if the goals are still met. Still, AlphaTauri will have to develop something special to gain, say, half a second over the competition.

Red Bull intervene (too) late

Finally, we cannot ignore Red Bull's role in this. After all, they own the team. The disappointing results led to a storm of rumours about a possible sale, although it is now known that it will not come to that. However, such turmoil obviously does not help so close to the start of the year.

Red Bull may have let AlphaTauri do their own thing (too much), and this is the result. It is going to be extremely difficult to catch up by 2023. Not even with a reorganisation.

Tost mentioned Tsunoda as a good candidate to replace Sergio Perez in the main squad in 2025. Seeing the Japanese driver alongside Max Verstappen would be yet another proof that the concept of a sister team in Formula 1 works, but neither Helmut Marko nor Christian Horner will consider promoting Tsunoda if he cannot frequently fight for points in 2023 and 2024. Work to do, then. For AlphaTauri as well as for Red Bull.