AlphaTauri appear to be at something of a crossroads on their Formula 1 journey.
In the couple of seasons prior to 2022, it could have been argued that no other team on the grid was making more progress. A rebrand from Toro Rosso, as well as a nicely timed upturn in results, helped them to shake off the Red Bull B-team tag a bit.
Of course, that affiliation remains. But strong results, headlined by Pierre Gasly and his renaissance after his spell with the sister/parent team came to an abrupt and brutal end, meant that you couldn't help but start to take them much more seriously.
Then came 2022. To say they took a step backwards would be a gross understatement. Going from sixth place with 142 points to ninth with just 35 is an alarming rate of regression. As Gasly explained himself at the end of last year : "Expectations were high... but we were just massively overweight the whole season."
He was, of course, referring to the AT03 car he and Yuki Tsunoda were given to drive. It began the year promisingly enough, scoring points at each of the first four races and yielding a season-best 10 points – all earned by the Frenchman – in Baku.
From that point, things simply deteriorated. Knowing how far they were off their rivals they made the decision to focus on their 2023 car from the summer onwards, but still it was a painful result to the season. And one which, as Helmut Marko has already warned, could lead to some big changes being made.
"Everyone agrees that it wouldn't make sense to rebuild a successful package like Red Bull Racing," said the veteran recently when discussing the change of leadership after the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz. "Where there is a need, there is AlphaTauri – this was not satisfactory in the past year.
"They were beaten below their value. For the potential, technically and financially, ninth place is not acceptable. They made a lot of mistakes in strategy. The car had too little downforce. At the moment we are in the process of taking stock and looking at which screws we have to turn."
As well as signalling changes at AlphaTauri, that statement will also have acted as a challenge of sorts to Franz Tost. The long serving team principal remains in place despite the merry-go-round affecting half the rest of the grid, but will know exactly what will be expected of him and his team as they begin life without Gasly.
The Frenchman left for Alpine at the end of last year, having made it clear he wanted a fresh start away from the Red Bull stable. Tsunoda remains for at least another year – one in which he knows he must improve his results and curb his temper if he is to make sure he is a long-term fixture of the F1 grid.
He will be joined by Nyck de Vries, who made himself the most wanted man on the grid for a few weeks last year after his surprise and eye-catching F1 debut. Whether the Dutchman will be able to repeat his Monza heroics remains to be seen – of course, he was not their top choice, but the FIA shut down their plans to sign Colton Herta.
This year will be huge for AlphaTauri. Red Bull made it clear to Michael Andretti when he enquired about buying the team that they were not interested in selling, but will that remain the case if their sister team cannot be competitive? Both drivers have something to prove this year, and so does the team itself.
