AlphaTauri AT03 Specs & Facts

AlphaTauri AT03

New Regulations, New Challenges

The AlphaTauri AT03 was born into the most sweeping regulatory change Formula 1 had seen in decades. The 2022 season introduced ground-effect aerodynamics and 18-inch wheels, requiring every team to start their design process from scratch. For AlphaTauri, the reset presented both an opportunity and a challenge: the Faenza team had fewer resources than the front-runners but had proven adept at extracting performance from limited tools. The AT03 was initially competitive in the lower midfield but struggled with the porpoising and aerodynamic instability that affected many teams in the early stages of adaptation.

Gasly Departs Mid-Season

The mid-year transfer window brought an unexpected development that reshaped AlphaTauri's 2022 campaign. Pierre Gasly, keen to take on a new challenge after spending the best years of his career at the Faenza team, secured a move to Alpine to partner Fernando Alonso from 2023 onwards. His final race in an AlphaTauri came at the Italian grand prix, fittingly at Monza, the scene of his greatest triumph, before the Red Bull programme arranged a complex swap that brought Nyck de Vries in as a substitute. De Vries had an extraordinary debut, scoring points in Italy in what would secure him a full-time seat for the following year.

Tsunoda Carries the Flag

With the team managing mid-season transition, Yuki Tsunoda became the senior driver and the primary source of performance data. He continued to mature as a Formula 1 competitor in 2022, refining his consistency and extracting points when the opportunities presented themselves. The AT03 project ultimately finished outside the top seven in the Constructors' standings, but the lessons from a challenging year contributed to a significant rethink for 2023. The car's development under the new regulations provided AlphaTauri's engineers with invaluable learning that would feed directly into subsequent seasons.

AlphaTauri AT03 – Technical Specifications