Alpha Tauri AT02

[Morteza]

[flexbrah]

[ispano6]

Idk. Was expecting more from honda. The packaging has improved but not enough. Look at mclaren, they went miles ahead in terms of packaging.
Ofc, it'll be better with redbull, but if you think that way then the mercs are definitely one step ahead no doubt about it

Mclaren had the opportunity to modify the monocoque and squeeze the coolers even more inside (IMO). If another team opts to do that, they'll need to spend the 2 tokens on the back of the monocoque.

I recall early on with the Renault power units McLaren had burning body work. But enough with the McLaren talk as that doesn't belong here. With AT02, the side pods only appear so wide from top down view but that width really is only at the base of the sidepod where it meets the floor.

[ispano6]

Alpha Tauri turned down the opportunity to update its car for 2021 with last year’s rear-end and gearbox of sister team Red Bull.

Amid the pandemic, and apart from an aerodynamic rule change, chassis design has been essentially paused between 2020 and 2021 apart from a complex ’token’ system.

However, as a technical partner of Mercedes’, Aston Martin got the green light to upgrade to the 2020 title-winning rear-end without spending a single token.

A similar rear-end upgrade would also have been available to Alpha Tauri.

"We decided to leave the rear of the AT01 as it is," said Alpha Tauri technical director Jody Eggington.

"It wasn’t an easy decision," he told the Japanese source as-web.jp. "We considered the positive and the negative sides.

"It was certainly an attractive option to switch to a new gearbox without using tokens, but it was the front of the chassis that I most wanted to develop."

Eggington said the decision was also guided by the sweeping new regulations for 2022.

"Next year’s cars will be drastically different," he said. "So we have to concentrate our resources there as well.

"Last year’s AT01 was very complete - especially the rear stability was fully satisfactory. So we decided that we didn’t need to (change it)," Eggington added.

I found this on the Alpha Tauri's AT02 website, not sure if anyone else has seen it...

The chassis is the core element around which the entire car is built, with the driver's survival cell at its heart.
Attached to the chassis are all the other major components; power unit, transmission, suspension, bodywork, wings, and the floor.
Designed and built entirely in-house, it is homologated after passing stringent pre-season tests.
The gearbox and rear suspension come from last year’s Red Bull Racing car, while we have completely redesigned the front suspension.

A lot of online articles are purporting that Alpha Tauri didn't take the "free upgrade" but their own website states they are using last year's RB gearbox and rear suspension.

[GhostF1]

Video of the AT02 and STR14 running on track.

It is difficult to call out which one is which as both Gasly and Tsunoda drove both so their numbers chopped and changed. The biggest identifier is the new design bargeboards.

The new engine sounds far more different than previous years. That's the new car right at the beginning and the idle is totally different!

Also at just before 3:00 an audio section starts which is playing the AT02 and new PU driving down the pit lane and then launching off. Totally different idle note and when accelerating it has a higher pitch to it as well. Nice little crack on the first upsift as well!

[ryaan2904]

Video of the AT02 and STR14 running on track.

It is difficult to call out which one is which as both Gasly and Tsunoda drove both so their numbers chopped and changed. The biggest identifier is the new design bargeboards.

The new engine sounds far more different than previous years. That's the new car right at the beginning and the idle is totally different!

Also at just before 3:00 an audio section starts which is playing the AT02 and new PU driving down the pit lane and then launching off. Totally different idle note and when accelerating it has a higher pitch to it as well. Nice little crack on the first upsift as well!

It almost feels as if the engine got a lot more smoother in comparison to last year..

[RedNEO]

My understanding of the token rules based on the cars we’ve seen so far..

[flexbrah]

[Samsthepits]

I think Alpha Tauri tried out two different floors on the AT02 at Imola.

[ryaan2904]

My understanding of the token rules based on the cars we’ve seen so far..

https://media1.tenor.com/images/0a05114 ... /tenor.gif

Hope you don't mind me taking this

[RedNEO]

My understanding of the token rules based on the cars we’ve seen so far..

https://media1.tenor.com/images/0a05114 ... /tenor.gif

Hope you don't mind me taking this

Not at all

[PlatinumZealot]

Seems my instincts were right. That cut out mid floor was only a small peice of the puzzle now that we see these testing shots. Quite a comolicated structure despite the rules.. A loop hole perhaps?

[Wouter]

[Morteza]

[Sevach]

New FW.