At Alpha Tauri, and the Red Bull family in general, they are friends with presentations in style: last night they unveiled the new decoration of their AT04 in New York, same city where the first team showed the colors of the RB19 and announced their future agreement with Ford. Although to tell the truth, the premiere was left halfway: they only presented their new decoration on a model. Information to rivals is not given away.
Among the pilots a new face: Nyck deVries, 28-year-old Dutchman who officially debuts in F1 with one of the best resumes to be rookies: He won F2 (2019) and Formula E (2021), but he has also already scored his first two points in the World Cup: he replaced Albon in Italy 2022 with Williams and finished ninth. There is material for a solid driver, he is not a rookie in racing, he has spent three years integrated into the Mercedes program and he is also a friend of Verstappen.
On the other side, the charismatic Tsunoda (22 years old) and his 1.59 meters of Japanese talent. Last year he was 17th with 12 points (to Gasly’s 23, now at Alpine). It is not a secret that the demand in Alpha Tauri will increase: the ninth in constructors in 2022 was little compared to what they were used to in Faenza. In addition, Red Bull needs a competitive sister team to contribute to power unit development.
The first F1 of 2023 on the asphalt
Formula 1 gets underway, without double meaning: in recent days some teams have presented their cars and others have directly taken them to the asphalt. On Friday, Alfa Romeo debuted the C43 in Barcelona and Red Bull tested the RB19 at Silverstone with the same opacity as the day of its presentation: only blurred images of the car were seen, so they will want to hide something.
This Saturday it was the turn of Haas, who tested the VF-23 also on the British track with Magnussen and Hulkenberg at the wheel. The black carbon fiber present in the three decorations reveals a small detail: none must be short of weight, so they cannot even afford painting. This Monday the Aston Martin of Alonso and the McLaren are presented; on Tuesday it will be the turn of Sainz’s Ferrari. Mercedes will show its W14 on Wednesday and Alpine will unveil the A523 in London.