Red Bull co-operation with AlphaTauri has ‘intensified’ under FIA’s watchful eye

Blasting his engineers after the AT04’s lap times failed to live up to expectations, Franz Tost says he can’t follow Aston Martin’s path and “poach capable people” from Red Bull but that the co-operation with the senior team has “intensified”.

Tost had a go at AlphaTauri’s designers in the build-up to the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, telling the media he doesn’t “trust” them anymore because in the winter “they told me, ‘the car is fantastic, [we] made big progress’ then we came to Bahrain and we are nowhere.”

He added: “I don’t trust them anymore, I just want to see the lap time because this is the only thing that counts.”

With his role as team boss potentially on the line given Helmut Marko has made it clear Red Bull aren’t happy with the team’s on-track performances nor their finances, the team made changes that included the signing of Lars Stegelmann as AlphaTauri’s new Head of Commercial.

Tost has revealed they’ve already reorganised the aerodynamic department.

“The aero department was reorganised,” he toldSport1.de. “We have separated from some employees and I am now expecting an increase in performance from the new people.

“I don’t want to name any names just yet, just this much – the responsibility is now divided between three people.”

Asked why AlphaTauri didn’t do an Aston Martin and sign people from Red Bull given their senior team has nailed the new ground effect aerodynamic regulations, Tost says that wouldn’t be right for them to do.

But, he added, they have implemented closer ties with Red Bull, ties that the FIA are keeping a close eye on.

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“Because we can’t just poach capable people from Red Bull Racing like Aston Martin did,” he replied. “Their newcomers were able to develop the new car at an early stage. We see the result now.

“But the same applies to us: the co-operation with Red Bull is now being intensified.

“However, the regulations are very precise. You can’t just copy parts. We should only accept Red Bull parts that are officially allowed. But they are not relevant to performance. We have to develop the rest ourselves.

“The FIA takes a close look at that.”

AlphaTauri got off the mark for 2023 at the Australian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda scoring a single point on a day where his team-mate Nyck de Vries was taken out by Logan Sargeant.

With one point on the board the team is P9 in the standings, some way off the midfield battle that’s now headed by McLaren who have 12 points.

“Our goal was to get into Q3 in qualifying and drive for points,” Tost said of his disappointment with the team’s results. “So far this has not been successful.

“The car is too slow. The problem is the aerodynamics. We lack speed, especially on the straights.

“我们现在必须找到摆脱困境的方法。We’re on the right track there. This also includes making better use of the Red Bull wind tunnel in England. I was in Milton Keynes last week for that.

“We have identified the weak points of the car and now we have to produce new parts as quickly as possible.”