AlphaTauri will continue to bring upgrades across the remaining rounds of 2023 after confirming the addition of a floor update for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
After Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko issued that AlphaTauri would collaborate closer with the senior side, the Italian squad introduced a seismic upgrade in Singapore last month.
That was supported by the introduction of a revised floor last time out in Qatar, which was targeted primarily at improved reliability.
“The floor update we brought here is for reliability,” the team’s Head of Vehicle Performance Guilherme Dezoteux said via RaceFans during the Losail race weekend.
“It’s on the forward part of the floor to make an aero surface more consistent and more robust. So it’s a small update.
“The biggest update came in Singapore, where we brought a complete new floor with the new bodywork.”
Dezoteux documents that the Singapore parts “worked well”, before adding that the improvement was more noticeable in the corners than down the straights.
“But the car has made a step forward and we think this is one of the main factors we’ve been able to be closer to Q3 over those last races, that’s definitely one of the main factors,” he added.
Although AlphaTauri remain rooted to the bottom of the Constructors Championship – seven points adrift of Haas – the team is encouraged by its mid-year developments.
The Singapore upgrades enabled Liam Lawson, deputising for Daniel Ricciardo, to reach Q3 and finish ninth, achieving AlphaTauri’s best result of the season.
AlphaTauri are optimistic that it can make further progress up the pecking order with a new floor this weekend in Austin, Texas.
“We have a new floor coming, again, that’s the main part everybody is developing a lot, there is still a lot of performance to find on those cars on the floor area,” he explained.
“So we are manufacturing the floors for Austin, hoping that’s going to be another step in the same direction.
“But it’s fair to say that since Silverstone the updates have delivered and that’s a very positive sign for our aerodynamic department because the correlation is a difficult exercise and when you start delivering it means that the entire chain from analysing the car data, looking at the correlation to the wind tunnel and CFD and developing the aero surface is working.”
Aside from further updates to its AT04 car, AlphaTauri will welcome back Ricciardo, who has been absent since breaking his left hand in a crash at Zandvoort in August.
The eight-time F1 race winner has already been confirmed at the team for next year, where he will again partner Yuki Tsunoda.
