F1 AlphaTauri Launches Incredibly Fashionable AT04 for 2023 Formula 1

AlphaTauri has become the latest team to present its livery for the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The scheme was presented in New York City on Saturday with a livery unveiling taking place alongside the launch of its new clothing range. After last year’s struggles AlphaTauri will hope its new-look for 2023, with additional splashes of red for new partner Orlen, doesn’t go out of fashion.

The new car, the AT04, is due to take to the track at Misano, Italy, for a shakedown on Tuesday.

Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries will form AlphaTauri’s driver lineup this season.

AlphaTauri slumped to ninth in last year’s championship, spending the bulk of the campaign outside of the points positions, with its AT03 a sluggish creation. The departing Pierre Gasly pinpointed its weight struggles as the main factor for its regression, likening the extra weight to trying to run with a backpack. However, the car was aerodynamically inferior to its midfield counterparts, and was not developed well, while AlphaTauri also frequently failed to capitalize on the few occasions when opportunities came its way.

It was comfortably AlphaTauri’s least competitive season since its rebranding, undertaken to promote Red Bull’s nascent clothing arm, in 2020.

It has also now lost Gasly, its most competitive driver for the bulk of the last five seasons, who delivered an unforgettable victory in 2020 and two further podiums.

Tsunoda and de Vries will consequently both face scrutiny as the 2023 season progresses.

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost has regularly spoken of young drivers needing three years to show their Formula 1 potential—and for Tsunoda 2023 will be year three. He will need to step up this season to prove his long-term credentials, especially after the exit of Gasly.

De Vries is a slightly different recruit for AlphaTauri.

At 28, he is five years Tsunoda’s senior but 2023 will be his rookie season after a starring debut at Monza last year with Williams—an outing which convinced AlphaTauri to take a gamble on him.

That came after the initially-confirmed Gasly was permitted to leave for Alpine, and also after AlphaTauri’s advances to IndyCar’s Colton Herta were rebuffed due to his Super Licence ineligibility.

De Vries won the Formula 2 crown in 2019, before adding the Formula E title in 2021, has experience in sportscars, and has tested for Mercedes and Aston Martin in Formula 1.

Formula 1’s launch season will continue on Monday when McLaren and Aston Martin will present their new cars.

U.S. team Haas, meanwhile, completed a successful shakedown of its VF-23 at Silverstone on Saturday in the hands of Kevin Magnussen.