AlphaTauri managed to close the gap to the middle of the field in the second part of 2023, but a tough start to the season compromised its year.
That is why technical director Jody Egginton wants the team to have a better car at the start of the 2024 season. He believes that having a good challenger to start with will help the team with further development, and it will allow AlphaTauri to work better for new upgrades.
During last season, AlphaTauri switched to Red Bull’s rear suspension, something which helped the team gain a lot of performance. Moreover, in 2024, the team will use even more components supplied by Red Bull, to be even more competitive.
“We want to keep on this trajectory of progress we’ve been on in the second half of the year. we just need a solid winter to hit the ground running.
“Then our season can be a little bit… not easy, it’s never easy, but a bit more progressive. And we can develop the car in a slightly more structured way.
“But we want to be able to take a more measured and consistent approach. And if the car is a bit stronger out of the box at the start of the season, we can refine the approach we want to do, and that’ll be a good measure of the progress we’re making.”
Furthermore, Egginton underlined that not only will it be important to have a good car at the start of the season, but it will be even more crucial to keep developing and moving forward as the season progresses.
“But in-season, everyone’s moving forward as well. So, on top of where you want it to be for race one, you’ve got to keep going.
“So, credit to the team. We managed to claw it back, but we’ve got more work to do to get to where we want to be.”