The investment made by the leading teams in all these years at the front of the grid to perpetuate their preferential position means that the more modest teams remain reticent about the definitive effect that the new budget limit will have.
Formula 1 dresses up in 2022 for the final launch of a regulatory revolution that will give way to a new generation of single-seaters, with aerodynamic simplicity as a flag compared to previous conceptions in the ‘Grand Circus’ of cars in which there was not a gap in the bodywork without a wing or an aerodynamic flow redirector.
It has cost the FIA and the premier category of motorsports blood, sweat and tears to put all the teams that make up the current grid in agreement to leave behind a project with years of filming behind it, reliable although at the limit of its development, in an attempt to favor that there are more contenders for the victories and, therefore, the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.
What will the falsely nicknamed shake down Or the first contact of these single-seaters with the asphalt in Barcelona from February 23 to 25? The teams, at least for the moment, only dare to make predictions, reluctant to throw the bells on the fly until the real fire puts everyone in their place and it is shown (or not) that the level of the teams will be leveled once and for all.
negative omen
However, despite these efforts to try to get everyone to play with the same tools, the most modest teams are distrustful. “We still have to work on the infrastructure to optimize everything. If I look at the simulation tools, and only hear what the top teams have, we just don’t have that. They have invested millions in recent years,” Franz Tost asserted.
“We have a good budget, but we have never been in a position to invest so much money in simulation tools. They are becoming more and more important, because we have less track time; therefore, they are necessary, and I think that there we still have some shortcomings, “added the head of AlphaTauri in the circuits.
That the formation of Faenza can fight face to face with Mercedes or Red Bull Already in Bahrain, the first race of 2022, seems like a distant dream for the Italians, but it will not be for lack of reinforcements and internal remodeling.
«We have bought a new warehouse and we are going to make a new building, we will finish it within two years. There are many things underway to make the leap to a good position, but it is not just us, but others will do the same. Formula 1 is this, a great fight everywhere, “explained Tost.
“I trust our engineers. Why wouldn’t they be able to make the AT03 […] also be very competitive?»
So how far can they go? “It is something very unknown, because everything is completely new. We have no comparisons with others, I trust our engineers, because they have built two good cars: the AT01 was already a good car, and 2021 was another step forward. So why wouldn’t they be able to make the AT03, even though it’s a completely new car, also very competitive?” he explained.
“However, from a technological point of view there are also different philosophies, I just hope that we are going in the right direction. I don’t know where we’ll end upbut I trust our team, the aerodynamics group is doing a very good job”, concluded Tost, proud of the structure he represents.