AlphaTauri sets deadline to take customer Red Bull 2021 gearbox
AlphaTauri has set a September deadline to fix the specification of gearbox taken from Red Bull next year - even if its sister team takes more time to develop it further
As part of a closer relationship between the two Red Bull-owned teams, Toro Rosso will continue taking a host of parts including suspension, gearbox, and hydraulics.
But with Formula 1's major rule changes for next year meaning there is no option to take year-old designs, as has happened up to now, the two teams have agreed on a timetable for when certain components need to be signed off.
Asked by Autosport about how the working relationship will change because of the 2021 changes, team principal Franz Tost said: "We will get also next year the front suspension, rear suspension, the gearbox and the hydraulics.
"But it will be decided in August/September whether Red Bull decides 'okay this is the gearbox we run' or whether they are still in the wind tunnel [to continue working on it].
"And then maybe we get the gearbox which is designed in September, because we will not wait or we cannot wait until November or December because then we don't get a gearbox!"
Tost said that while any modifications after September would be minimal, they were the sort of marginal gains that mean a lot to Red Bull.
"We will get the parts which are ready with the design in September," he said. "If Red Bull technologies still investigates for their car, then they could have something different. But it will not be completely different.
"Maybe the driveshaft is a little bit lower or higher, or the differential is lower/higher or further forward.
"This will only be a few millimeters but for a team like Red Bull Racing, it's important because these small changes or many small changes can become a big performance differential."
Previous article
Ferrari hasn't been masking its pace in F1 testing
Next article
Mercedes not worried about a shortage of top F1 drivers
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Teams | Red Bull Racing |
| Author | Jonathan Noble |
The toe-in-water origins of Lotus’s groundbreaking F1 journey
In the first part of our history of Lotus, DAMIEN SMITH recalls how Formula 1 wasn’t an immediate priority for team founder Colin Chapman – but once he got a taste for it he just couldn’t stop…
How Hamilton’s qualifying record compares to Senna and Schumacher
Lewis Hamilton has just become the first driver to record 100 world championship Formula 1 pole positions. Time to revisit a debate we discussed when he reached 150 front row starts in 2020.
Why sustainability is being mandated by F1
Continuing to be socially acceptable as public views shift globally is vitally important to the future of motor racing, says PAT SYMONDS - especially in Formula 1, the championship that represents the technological peak
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull's title credentials, and heap pressure on Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one big encouraging sign for Red Bull. The trouble is, it looks like making good on that gain will require its superstar driver to avoid repeating a mistake made today that left him well down the FP2 order
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
