Pierre Gasly Archives

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s AT03 challenger for 2022 unveiled

The reveals of the 2022 Formula 1 racing cars continue this week, starting with Scuderia AlphaTauri’s new AT03. Like all the other contenders in this year’s championship, the AT03 has been engineered to meet the significantly changed technical regulations aimed at not just furthering sustainability in the sport but also promote closer racing.

“I am excited to finally reveal what our 2022 Formula 1 car will look like. It is a completely new era for F1 and we hope that this package will be very strong, following last year’s success,” said Franz Tost, Scuderia AlphaTauri Team Principal. Though finishing 6^th in the Constructors Championship, the 2021 season was the team’s most successful ever since they first raced in 2006 (as Scuderia Toro Rosso).

Same driver line-up
The drivers will be the same as for 2021 – Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda. Frenchman Gasly, who entered F1 in 2017, finished 9^th overall in the Drivers Championship last year and scored one podium (third place in the Azerbaijan GP). Tsunoda began his first season in F1 last year in place of Daniil Kvyat and finished 14^th in the championship.

The livery of the AT03 retains the white and navy blue colours that have become familiar with the team but with changes in the paint scheme. Gasly’s car will carry the number 10, while Tsunoda’s will have 22 which, incidentally, will be his age this year.

Honda power units, Red Bull name
The AT03 will run with Red Bull power units which are actually Honda power units supplied by Red Bull Powertrains, a F1 power unit maker owned by Red Bull. Red Bull Powertrains was established last year to take over the operation of F1 power units developed by Honda after the Japanese carmaker ceased its involvement in F1 at the end of the 2021 season. Naturally, the Red Bull Racing Team will also be using the same V6 engines during 2022.

The area where the biggest and most obvious changes can be seen – and the most important new element – is hidden underneath the car! A ground effect floor features two tunnels so that a much greater percentage of a car’s downforce is generated from the underside of the car.

Among other 2022 rules, the front and rear wings are much simpler in design, with no rear wing endplates or bargeboards. Each team can interpret the rules as they wish, but within very strict templates for what is permissible.

New requirements for chassis design
The chassis is the core element around which the entire AT03 is built, able to absorb more energy than before in front, rear and lateral impact tests. The 2022 design also requires the power unit to separate from the chassis in a crash without damaging the fuel cell. To further protect the driver in a frontal impact, the nose section is longer. All these changes have seen the car’s minimum weight increase by approximately 5% to 795 kgs.

Another very visible change is the switch from the 13-inch wheels that have been the norm in F1 since the 1960s, to 18-inch wheels, with just one supplier – BBS Motorsport – for all 10 teams. Aesthetically more pleasing and modern, the real function of the bigger low-profile tyres supplied by Pirelli is to make them less prone to overheating, so that the drivers can push harder for longer. However, they still have a performance drop-off to allow for interesting strategy choices. The compounds are also new this year, with Pirelli producing 5 different dry weather compounds of which three are chosen for each round, along with two wet weather options.

*Yuki Tsunoda in the AT02 during the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship.*

Both drivers are pleased with the looks of their new cars but do not know how they will perform with all the changes resulting from the new regulations. “We won’t know the true performance of the AT03 until we get it out on track at pre-season testing in Barcelona but so far, I think it looks great and I am very excited to get this new season started,” said Gasly. Last month, to get them warmed up for the new season, the drivers ran their 2020 car, the AT01, at Imola.

F1 (Round 8): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Italian Grand Prix

♦ Lewis Hamilton, who set the fastest lap ever in F1 history yesterday, got off to a great start and pull ahead. But the same could not be said of team mate Valtteri Bottas who kept slipping back due to some damage sustained at the start when there was a collision with Lando Norris.

♦ Kevin Magnussen was an early casualty; on the first lap, his Hass racing car having sustained damage to the front wing and had to come into the pits to change the parts. But his race would come to an end on lap 19 when he had to pull over.

♦ Another dark day for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel’s car continued straight at the first chicane with smoke billowing from the rear brakes that must have failed. He had done just 6 laps and though he could return to the pits, his race was over.

♦ Alexander Albon received a 5-second time penalty for an incident with Romain Grosjean. The penalty would be carried out when he came into the pits.

♦ By the 17th lap, Bottas was down to sixth place, 20 seconds behind Hamilton and watching Max Verstappen in his mirrors.

♦ Magnussen’s car stopping on the track on lap 19 brought the Safety Car out, and Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi were the first driver to rush into their pits to get new tyres. However, thw two drivers could have entered the pit lane too early, when it was still closed, and the Stewards deliberated on the matter. Observers noted that the lights indicated the pit lane was closed at that time.

*It certainly was a dark, dark day for Ferrari at its home track when Vettel was first to retire and then Leclerc crashed halfway through the race.*

♦ As the Safety Car pulled off on the 24th lap and the race resumed, Charles Leclerc was in an advantageous position and the Ferrari driver shot past two Alfa Romeos to fourth place – and then lost control on the Parabolica and crashed! Ferrari’s day got even darker – and on home territory too.

♦ Leclerc’s crash damaged barriers extensively and the red flags came out, bring the racing to a stop for repairs to be carried out. 26 laps of the total of 53 had been completed as all the cars came to a stop in the pit lane.

♦ While waiting for the race to resume, Hamilton and Giovinazzi were informed that they had 10-second stop and go penalties. They would have to come in and wait 10 seconds after completing one lap when the race started again. For Hamilton, that put him 23 seconds behind everyone else and virtually last in the pack.

♦ Max Verstappen’s race ended on lap 31 after he pulled into the pits and the engineers found a problem with his Power Unit.

♦ Hamilton was working very hard and with 5 laps remaining, he was up to 10th from 16th and still putting in very quick times – 3 seconds quicker than other cars on some laps. Bottas meanwhile was in 5th, a second behind Norris.

♦ Pierre Gasly held on to the very end, crossing the finish line less than a second ahead of Carlos Sainz. For the Italians fans, the win by Scuderia AlphaTauri would have made up for the great disappointment of both Ferraris dropping out.