AlphaTauri (previously known as Toro Rosso) finished 6th in the Constructor’s standings last season, 6 points behind 5th place Renault. The question is whether AlphaTauri can finish in the ‘best of the rest’ position after their status change from a subsidiary to a sister team that allows them greater privileges.
With the Constructor’s championship mostly been one-sided with Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport winning the crown for the past 6 seasons, the focus recently has shifted more on the midfield battle.
Although McLaren won the best of the rest battle comfortably by finishing 4th with 145 points last season, the battle was close between Renault (91), Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda (now known as AlphaTauri) (85), and Racing Point BWT Mercedes (73). Considering most of the hype has been about Racing Point this season, it seems AlphaTauri has gone unnoticed and could be the dark horse this season.
Highlights: AlphaTauri: The Dark Horse
- AlphaTauri Optimistic after Status Change to a Sister Team.
- Gasly, The Man in Form for AlphaTauri
- Sainz Gives Views on AlphaTauri
AlphaTauri Change in Status Brings Optimistic Hope
Having finished 6th last season, Toro Rosso will hope to improve and win the best of the rest position in 2020. AlphaTauri’s advisor, Helmut Marko, is optimistic about their chances after AlphaTauri’s status has now moved from a subsidiary to a sister team.
Marko explained how this change in status benefits them, “Everything that our capacities and the regulations allow will come to AlphaTauri. We expect the team to always be at the top of the midfield.” With such high optimism and change of AlphaTauri’s status to a sister team, AlphaTauri surely seems like the dark horse of the season.
Pierre Gasly: AlphaTauri’s Talisman
The confidence is also high in the team because they have a top driver in Pierre Gasly. Gasly began the 2019 season at Red Bull Racing and then shifted to Toro Rosso mid-season after poor performances. However, ever since his shift to Toro Rosso, he has performed brilliantly, even achieving a podium finish when he finished 2nd in the incident-packed Brazilian Grand Prix. This was Toro Rosso’s best finish ever since the win at the Italian Grand Prix in 2008.
With such promising results last season, Gasly and AlphaTauri are optimistic of a good performance in the 2020 season. Talking about pre-season, Gasly said, “I feel there’s way more to come.” Although Gasly had a fantastic pre-season, finishing fifth on one of the pre-season, considering that he yet believes there is a lot more from AlphaTauri to come, one can only imagine how competitive the AlphaTauri will be when compared to the other midfield teams.
Carlos Sainz’s Verdict on AlphaTauri
Rivals such as Carlos Sainz too are aware of the threat posed by AlphaTauri after their impressive performances in pre-season, although he did acknowledge that the midfield battle was going to be extremely close.
“I think everyone is looking strong. I think every single team that you look at, at some point
When rivals point out a certain team as their main rival, one knows that they have done something special, and it is this reason that makes AlphaTauri the dark horse of the season.
The midfield battle no doubt is going to be extremely close this season as several teams have improved considering their performances in pre-season. However, AlphaTauri’s status change to a sister team is likely to make them the true dark horse as they can receive a lot of critical information from Red Bull Racing to improve over the course of the season that other teams will not have the advantage to.
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