One thing is almost certain whenever someone brings up Alpha Tauri in conversation, they are just Red Bulls junior team. Due to this many believe they are destined to the back of the midfield, or is there a change in the tide for the Faenza-based team?
The one thing Alpha Tauri have in their favour if they do want to break the shadow of their sister team, is a rule put in place thanks to the 2020 Racing Point. Thanks to the ‘Pink Mercedes’, a fair number of parts of another team’s car cannot be placed on your own unless they are carried over from the year previous. So no more getting year old parts from Red Bull. From this point, they are more independent.
Another part that is pivotal to the team that has not changed, is the teams race-winning driver, Pierre Gasly. There is no doubt that Gasly had a difficult time at Red Bull, but being demoted is clearly the best option for him. From being stuck miles behind Max Verstappen, Gasly has become his best self at Alpha Tauri and has spent his time miles in front of past teammate Daniil Kvyat.
Last year was a standout year for Gasly, being known universally as one of if not the best driver of the midfield. The amount of occasions where he outperformed the car and was completely ahead of his teammate was on a unbelievably impressive number of times.
Not to mention, moving up 46 places in Autosports top 50 drivers from 50 to 4. This is even more of an impressive feat when you realise who the only 3 better drivers than him in the year was Formula E’s dominant champion, Antonio Felix Da Costa, the unrivalled talent of Max Verstappen and newly crowned seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. So a year where we could see Gasly taking the car up the field, is more likely than you may think with his hands behind the wheel.
Alongside the very capable hands of Gasly, is rookie teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Many who have seen Tsunoda throughout 2020’s Formula 2 season will know of the potential and poor luck that left him unable to mount a title challenge that year. The potential though, is something that could see a star rise quicker than you think.
in 2018, Tsunoda was in Japanese Formula 4, the year after into Formula 3, the year after into Formula 2 and straight away the year after we find ourselves with him in F1. Not many drivers have had that quick of a rise into the sport, maybe only Verstappen who never stepped foot into an F2 car competitively.
Tsunoda is not the prospect that Verstappen once was and has fulfilled. Despite that, the raw pace of Tsunoda I believe will surprise people this year and I also think he will be up to speed quicker than what people believe for him too.
In the first round of 2020 at his first event in a F2 car, he topped the only practice session. At the second round he then topped the practice session and got pole position only for a radio issue costing him when it came to the feature race, the guy truly has a lot of raw speed and will impress is his first year I am sure.
One thing for sure is that the team have a strong driver lineup for 2021 and potentially the years to come after. With the 2021 challenger now with us, it is all in the hands of team now to make the most of what they have.
The midfield will be a challenge, there is no doubt. With McLaren pushing to stay best of the rest, Ferrari trying to bounce back, Aston Martins new funding starting to make a difference and Alpines hopeful resurgence under Fernando Alonso it is hard to imagine the smaller Alpha Tauri to make an impact, but it is not impossible.
Arguably, the team has the second or third best driver lineup of these midfield teams. That and the evolution of a car that should be more independent, the team that tends to be stuck in its sister teams shadow, might, just might, make a stand and make itself a challenger in the midfield for 2021.
Sports Insider by Gerren Scapens 