F1 News

Analysis AlphaTauri AT01: Much more than Red Bull's little brother

15 February 2020 at 08:48
  • Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

AlphaTauri have gone through a lot of changes over the winter; new name, new clothes but perhaps most notably, a closer partnership with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

Presentation and new livery

Friday night's presentation was quite a remarkable one. Before the AT01 was unveiled, an actual fashion show was held to show off the team's new clothes - AlphaTauri is a fashion brand, after all. 

When the veil was peeled back from the car, the completely new livery wowed everyone present. The blue and red have been replaced by white and navy blue colours, with Honda's logo displayed in red on the side of the car. A white car with a red Honda logo - that takes us back to the BAR and Honda days at the start of the century!

RB15 comparisons

Looking at the car itself, one thing stands out: Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat's new car looks awfully similar to the RB15, Red Bull's 2019 challenger. The biggest difference between the two cars is the front wing. The AT01's wings are attached low against the endplates where the RB15's front wing met the endplate at a relatively high point.

The nose of the AT01 is almost identical to the RB15. The bulge it has just behind the front suspension is copied (or borrowed, depending on how you're looking at it) from Max Verstappen's car that won three Grands Prix last year. The S-duct is identical as well, although the ski's, also displayed on the RB16 and Mercedes' W11, are new.

Bargeboards

The bargeboards on the AT01 don't stand out as much as they do on the Mercedes. The sidepods do look different as the air ducts are smaller, indicating the radiators have been placed on top of the engine rather than on the sides of the car, enabling them to slim down the sidepods.

No T-wing

The rear suspension's concept seems to be taken over from the RB15 as well. In contrast to, for example, Ferrari's SF1000, the AT01 has no T-wing. The sharkfin is very small, something which is seen on most 2020 cars as this was a tweak in the regulations for the upcoming season.

Best of the rest

All in all, the AT01 looks very similar to Red Bull's 2019 car. This was to be expected after Dr Helmut Marko had announced the two teams would have a closer relationship ahead of the 2020 season. As the season progresses, more parts similar to the RB16 should appear on the AlphaTauri as they want to take the midfield battle to Renault and McLaren.