Helmut Marko has confirmed that AlphaTauri as we know it will end and will be renamed in 2024. The move comes after Red Bull analyzed the downward turn in the team. AlphaTauri have struggled to find a rhythm in rising to an above middle pack team in the F1 championship. There have been glimpses of brilliance over the past few season with surprise podiums and stunning individual races but nothing with longevity. Red Bull has decided its time to step in and revamp their junior program.
The FIA regulations prohibit certain levels of information sharing between teams. Generally all teams should be acting independently in terms of development.
As reported by GPfans.com, Helmut Marko stated, “AlphaTauri will have two new leaders in 2024, Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer. There will be new sponsors and a new name. The orientation is clear: follow Red Bull Racing as far as the regulations allow. Own designs are the wrong way to go. Basically, Yuki is having a very good season with unfortunate results and penalties, but the performance is right. With Nyck de Vries, however, we are not satisfied, we are looking at that as well.”
De Vries has had a very disappointing season thus far. He currently has no points and rarely has made it into Q2 during qualifying. There were high expectations from the former F2 world champion. Those expectations are note being met.
Max Verstappen Offer Words During Today’s Austrian Grand Prix Press Conference
As reported by F1.com, current drivers championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) offered the following words on De Vries and his struggles. “I think we all know that this is motorsport in general. “You need to perform and do the best you can. It’s not forever anyway. You can’t force things as well, so it’s about how you work together with your team, gain more experience as well.”
“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what people above you say. It’s about how then you learn from your weekends and learn from your mistakes, like we all do. And just get on top of the car a little bit more, feel a little bit more comfortable, and definitely don’t force.”
“Just talk to your engineers, what can we do better, what can be worked on and at one point there is this point where things kind of click a little bit more. You can get these results, and if you have one good result maybe it leads to another one, and then you feel a bit more comfortable anyway.
“It’s a lot of things that have to come together at the end of the day. Don’t get too stressed about it, just work hard together with your people involved who can actually make a difference and influence your performance.”
Verstappen continued his Thoughts on De Vries
“But I don’t even need to tell Nyck, he has a lot of experience. But we will see again this weekend. And this is for everyone, it’s not only Nyck. It’s every single weekend, you have to work together with your engineers. But again, this year we have a very quick car, but if I were to sit back and relax and think that everything will come to me, the results at some point will stop coming and you cannot let that happen.”
In the same press conference in Austria Nyck De Vries was asked what he thought he needs to do to improve his results. De Vries stated, “There is no need to force anything. Whenever you are trying hard or trying to force something that is not kind of ready, then it won’t happen, then mistakes will happen. The key is to continue as we are, continue to focus on the job, remain patient. And I think the potential is there, so it is just a matter of time until things come together.
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