One of the hallmarks of any Formula 1 season over the past decade or so has been Toro Rosso, and latterly AlphaTauri churning out decent, solid midfield results. This usually ends with a sixth or seventh place finish in the Constructors' Championship with maybe one eye-catching result being the standout from a decent body of work for the Italian-based squad. However, after the team's best-ever finish of sixth place and 142 points in 2021, AlphaTauri slipped down to ninth in 2022 ending with just 35 points at the AT03 could not live up to its predecessors off the Faenza production line. The car was overweight and slow, leading to a season of frustration as the midfield split into the front-runners such as Alpine and McLaren and those in a packed lower half including AlphaTauri. The team are hoping that a fresh driver line-up of the returning Yuki Tsunoda and newbie Nyck de Vries will propel them back into the midfield scrap on a regular basis, as team boss Franz Tost exclusively tells RacingNews365 one are he feels the team need to focus on.
Tost on AlphaTauri improvements
"It's the infrastructure, in every respect," he told RacingNews365 when asked what is holding the team back. "If you look to the top teams, they have built up fantastic infrastructure in the last years with a lot of simulation tools. "They have the best people and midfield teams - not only us - have to come up with better simulation tools. "Of course we are all fighting to get good people into our teams, and I think that at AlphaTauri, we currently have quite a good basis and I'm quite positive regarding this year. "You must get [very good] people because usually in Formula 1, the best people go to the best teams, like the best drivers go to the best teams. "You have to put yourself in a position that your team is attractive for good and experienced people - and I wish that AlphaTauri will be this." One major problem facing AlphaTauri in that hunt is the fact that the team is based in Italy, with seven of the 10 teams located within what is known as 'Motorsport Valley' in the UK. Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri are the teams based in Europe, and following Brexit, the only teams within the European Union - although Haas do have a design office in Maranello. Throw in the complexities presented by the UK's withdrawal from the EU - Brexit - and for these three teams to recruit personnel from the UK, the challenge has become harder, something Tost acknowledges. "We have important facilities in the United Kingdom, with the aero department and the concept group," he says referring to the small outpost in Bicester, near Silverstone. "In Italy, we have the race team, we have the production and at present marketing and the design office. "It depends now whether we want to reach out for something in the future, but of course, in England regarding the people, the teams [based there] have an advantage because nearly all of them are [there]. "[This is] because the market for Formula 1 experienced people is much bigger than in Italy."
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