F1: First images of Alpha Tauri 2023 car revealed

AlphaTauri released the first images of its new AT04 Formula 1 car and says it is a “strong evolution” of last year’s car.

The Italian squad held a livery launch in New York on Saturday night, and also released some basic renderings of its 2023 car – as shown below.

The actual AT04 will have a shakedown at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Tuesday ahead of the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain on February 23.

THE CONCEPT

With only a few changes to the technical regulations for 2023, the AT04 is very much an evolution of last year’s car. Particular attention has been paid to packaging of components in order to facilitate efficient aerodynamic development. Work on the AT04 chassis and its layout began in July 2022, although our Future Car Group had begun work on the concept well before that, with the aim of making up ground on our competitors, especially in terms of downforce and the weight of the car.

Technical director Jody Egginton explained that: “We keep some components with the same specifications as last year, while others have been modified, but the total range of components purchased from Red Bull remains virtually the same.

“This is a strategic choice we make from time to time, but overall, it represents continuity with what we did last year.”

THE CHASSIS

It is the central element around which the entire AT04 is built. Since 2022, it has to withstand revised and more challenging crash tests to the front, rear and sides. For 2023, the roll-bar is larger and stronger, all in the name of improving car safety. The suspension arms are carbon composite, with the fronts designed by Scuderia AlphaTauri, while the rears come from the synergies with Red Bull Technology.

AERODYNAMICS

The ground effect, which is a feature of the current generation of cars, comes from two tunnels that run along the floor, thus generating a greater proportion of downforce from the underside of the car. The FIA has fine-tuned last year’s regulations in this important area, by slightly raising the height of the car floor off the ground and reducing the flexibility of the floor in order to eliminate the annoying porpoising phenomenon, which saw cars bounce up and down at high speeds last year.

Technical director Jody Egginton explained that “We learned a lot from the AT03 during its development, and a lot of that information went into the overall layout of the AT04 in order to address some of the shortcomings identified on last year’s car.

“Simply put, we lacked some downforce compared to our main competitors and identified opportunities to reduce mass.”

“Almost all areas of the car represent a strong evolution from the AT03, and great attention was paid to packaging so that we would have the best basis for aerodynamic development.”

THE POWER UNIT

The AT04 is powered by the Honda RBPTH001 power unit, built by Red Bull Powertrain in Milton Keynes (UK). Power unit development is currently frozen so there are no changes to it or how it is run. The Red Bull Technology 8 speed gearbox has a carbon main case and is longitudinally mounted. The car is a hybrid: attached to the 1600cc V6 turbo internal combustion engine are two electric units that recover energy, the MGU-H from the turbine exhausts and the MGU-K from the rear brakes.

THE TIRES

The 18” Pirelli tires introduced last year have a low profile which makes them less liable to overheat, thus allowing the drivers to push harder for longer. The 2023 tires feature a new and stronger construction that should deliver greater front-end grip and therefore less understeer. The Pirelli range for this year now features six slick compounds from the softest C0 to the hardest C5. As before, Pirelli will nominate three of these compounds for each race weekend and they will continue with the same identifying markings to make them easy to spot: red for Soft, yellow for Medium and white for Hard. As before, green Intermediates and blue Full Wets are available for wet conditions.

Technical Specifications