No “game-changer” updates coming for AlphaTauri F1 car

Nyck De Vries anticipates consistent progress rather than a “game-changer” update package as his AlphaTauri Formula 1 team continues to develop the initially disappointing AT04.

AlphaTauri’s disappointing start to the 2023 season was reflected in team boss Franz Tost’s suggestion in Jeddah that he doesn’t trust his engineers after the car failed to meet expectations.

A new floor introduced in Australia was the first major upgrade for the car as the team tries to find more speed, although after Yuki Tsunoda damaged his in FP1 only de Vries had it for the remainder of the Melbourne weekend.

The Dutchman’s race was ended when he was hit by Logan Sargeant at the final grid restart, but noted that the new floor and diffuser felt like a genuine step forward.

“I think the differences are quite subtle,” De Vries said in Australia.

“And obviously, on this specific track, there’s actually not very much low speed. But certainly, all development on the car is very necessary because everyone is working hard.

“And I think that all the little things we are constantly bringing – it’s not like there is a game-changer, you’re not going from P15 to P8 – all the little details are making a difference.

“And constantly you’re searching and finding more, and then you find yourself hopefully close to the top 10.

“Obviously we are closely working together. We are a team, working together and addressing and highlighting potential areas we can improve, and I think it’s clear where we need to find performance.

“But equally it’s a moving target, and it’s all relative to competition, so it’s also never good enough.”

Regarding the new floor, he said: “I think it definitely helped us a little bit, being a little bit more competitive. It’s so tight in the midfield, a little difference, it can swing so quickly.

“So it definitely helped. And that’s encouraging. But we will need to continue to push the team to get close to the top 10.”

He added: “We will have a bit of time now to try and learn what we’ve brought and hopefully we can use that to our advantage going forward in bringing new updates and putting more development on the car.”