AlphaTauri happy with relationship with Honda: 'Collaboration is paying off'

Honda officially exited Formula 1 after the last race in Abu Dhabi, yet the Japanese company will continue to support the Red Bull family with engine development this season. That is because this season's engine is essentially still the same as the 2021 one.

"It is a continuation in many respects" Egginton confirmed in an official AlphaTauri press release. "We’re super happy to carry on working with the same guys. I think our relationship with Honda has been a very good one. It’s been fantastic for the team and we’ve contributed to some of the successes, so we’re happy to carry on with that."

Collaboration bears fruit

AlphaTauri switched to the Honda engines in 2018, so it has been working with the Japanese for a number of years. According to Egginton, this has been a big advantage. "We’ve been working with the same Power Unit guys for a long while now and that pays dividends. You know where you are and you understand each other. Any continuation of that can only be a good thing" said the technical director.

Egginton also discussed the new aerodynamics that come with the new regulations. "With the change to the aero regulations being extensive, there is clearly a lot of scope to experiment with new ideas and new aero concepts, but at the same time the new regulations also provide an increased risk of going down the wrong development path.

"I am quite sure there is plenty of scope for teams to come up with innovative aero solutions but at the same time, I expect that the hidden details of aero development will be a significant contributor to what teams are able to achieve from the aero regulations.

"I’m pretty confident people are going to turn up at the first test with an interesting range of interpretations of the regulations and this will provoke discussion and investigation of possible development directions for all the teams’ in-season development plans," he added.