F1 News: AlphaTauri CEO Sets Record Straight On 2024 Red Bull Collaboration

AlphaTauri hasn't tapped its available resources yet, which also includes a technical collaboration with Red Bull.

Scuderia AlphaTauri is all set to receive big upgrades to its AT04 F1 car, just ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. The team has changed strategy lately in order to up its position from the last place in the championship standings, which also includes more collaboration with its senior team Red Bull. 

Since the ground effect rules were implemented in 2022, rival F1 teams have struggled with the development of their cars. The trend has been carried forward to this year, with several teams eventually giving up the experimentation and opting for the successful Red Bull route to make their cars faster. 

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AlphaTauri has been one of those teams to drive down that path as it receives a major upgrade that is similar to the components on Red Bull's RB19 F1 car. That means we should be witness to a much faster AT04 this weekend. In addition to the changes on the car, the team itself is about to undergo a management and identity overhaul.

In 2024, not only will the team have a new name but also a new team principal. Long-time team boss Franz Tost heads toward his retirement and will hand over his responsibilities to new team boss Laurent Mekies and CEO Peter Bayer.

Bayer has revealed that going forward next year, AlphaTauri will get a chance to collaborate more closely with Red Bull to exploit those resources it hasn't tapped into yet, while still acting within the rules laid down by Formula 1.

To help the Italian outfit raise its stakes, Bayer told Planet F1 that there would be a greater collaboration between the two independent teams going forward. He said:

“With the cost cap, and the technical regulations, you almost can’t be like a sister or brother team – you have to be a Formula 1 team.

"We need to grow through that process of growing up, going through adolescence, and start walking on our own feet. Obviously not in contradiction with getting support from our family, and I think that’s really what we’re also supposed to achieve. That’s what we want to achieve, we can still exploit the technical collaboration because we haven’t done that in the past.

"It’s well known by now, but, if you think about the importance of the suspension nowadays, and that we’re not using the suspension – which we are allowed to use – it simply was a mistake."

As pointed out by Bayer, a technical collaboration would not only recharge AlphaTauri's status but, it would also take them one step closer to being more independent as a separate team.