Inside the Faenza facility where AlphaTauri’s F1 pragmatic vision is realised

Franz Tost opens the door leading us into a spacious corridor. It’s a touch colder here than in the rest of the building, and the pressure is lower. Until the main door closes, you cannot open the following ones. In the rooms behind them, composite materials are being worked on – and they prefer low temperatures.

People in white lab coats can be seen at work behind pristine glass walls. The impression is that of a medical supplies production plant, rather than a race team’s base.

The whole thing is spotlessly clean – yet, it seems, still not quite up to Franz Tost’s exacting standards. As we look around, the Austrian Scuderia AlphaTauri chief pushes some cardboard off-cuts, plastic bags and other waste deeper into a wastebin, out of sight. Orderliness is a priority here – from the engineers’ offices to the workshops.

It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that this building, as well as the whole of the factory on Via della Boaria in Faenza, is his life’s work.

“When I came here the first time, it was obvious the team wasn’t in the best shape,” Tost tells GP Racing, “the factory was old. You could see that the team had struggled financially for many years.”

The building formerly occupied by Minardi – the team bought out by Red Bull at the end of 2005 – is a couple of hundred metres away from the one that’s been erected during Tost’s tenure. The former structure now hosts PR, marketing, and the paint shop, but it’s the latter where most of the production work takes place.

Vettel's 2008 Italian GP winning-chassis adorns the walls of AlphaTauri's HQ

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

There are two main staircases in that building. One of them is unofficially called “Vettel’s staircase”. On the walls here are photos from Monza 2008, when the young Sebastian scored pole position and then won the wet Italian GP. And upon reaching the second floor you’re met with a windtunnel model of that very STR3 car.

“It’s been here since 2012,” says Tost about the display. “It’s a victory area from Monza. We collected a lot of photos with Sebastian from that weekend and hung them on the walls to boost motivation for employees, so they can always have memories of that beautiful moment.”

The team was different back then. There was no new Faenza building – Toro Rosso simply used Red Bull Racing cars at the time, only needing to adapt the chassis to a different manufacturer’s engine.

AlphaTauri’s facilities have given it the capacity to be fully independent from Red Bull. Certain elements – such as the transmission and the rear suspension – Tost’s team still gets from Milton Keynes, but it can all be designed and produced at Faenza if need be

“This was an Adrian Newey car with a fantastic Ferrari engine,” recalls Franz of the STR3, “and with an unbelievably good driver in Sebastian. But I must also say that the team did a good job. Giorgio Ascanelli was engineering the car in those days, he was our technical director, and we were competitive. It was wet, of course, but our car was fast, Vettel did a fantastic job and the team also.”

At the time of Vettel’s Monza win, Toro Rosso was still based in the old Minardi building. The team was running a customer chassis, and so the modest infrastructure was sufficient.

“The complete philosophy was different than nowadays,” says Tost. “When Dietrich Mateschitz bought the team he said we have to use the synergies with Red Bull Technologies, and we have to educate young Red Bull drivers. This worked fantastically until we won in Monza and then our opponents, as usual in Formula 1, got upset. And from one day to the next, the regulations were changed, which meant that we had to start producing in-house or with suppliers the complete car.

“We had to invest a lot in the new base and fortunately we’ve built everything here, because now we really need it.”

AlphaTauri has invested significantly in its Faenza base

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

When F1 forbade ‘the Toro Rosso model’, construction on the new base began in Faenza. Now that base is over 10 years old, and the team is no longer anywhere near the smallest in Formula 1. AlphaTauri permanently employs around 400 people, a figure that rises to 500 during the winter when the new car is being built up. Around 20 staffers have remained since the Minardi years, according to Tost.

We make our way to the design office – a large room hosting around 60 workspaces.

“There are different groups: here at the front are a few people working with CFD,” says Tost, making his way through the room, “then we have the vehicle performance group and a group responsible for bodywork and floor, for example, and other parts. Then the monocoque group, the system group, gearbox, hydraulic groups and the one which is responsible for tools.”

One of the walls hosts a monitor with a live feed from the UK base in Bicester, where AlphaTauri has its windtunnel.

“We always see them, they see us,” says Tost.

AlphaTauri’s facilities have given it the capacity to be fully independent from Red Bull. Certain elements – such as the transmission and the rear suspension – Tost’s team still gets from Milton Keynes, but it can all be designed and produced at Faenza if need be.

“That would not be a problem,” confirms Tost. “Because we did this already in the past. When we had different engines we also made the gearbox by ourselves. It would be possible, but we would spend much more money and also, let’s not forget that Red Bull Technologies, from a technical side they are on a very, very high level.”

AlphaTauri has full design autonomy from the sister Red Bull operation, although they work together too

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Nevertheless, AlphaTauri always has freedom of choice. For instance, this year – unlike last – the designers from Faenza settled on a different front suspension concept. In contrast to the Red Bull, the AT03 has a push-rod system rather than pull-rod.

“I don’t know any part which we couldn’t make in-house,” says Tost. “Some parts we deliberately have to order because we simply run out of people and space. Sometimes wishbones, for example, we outsource, but not many parts. We want to do everything in-house, we want to have our own knowledge. And we want to be flexible, because with suppliers you’re never as flexible as you can be if you do it by yourself. And it’s cheaper.”

Not far from the design office is the so-called operations room, which is used to support the race team during grand prix weekends. Since the number of personnel who can attend a GP is now limited by regulations, in recent years most F1 teams have set up additional engineering and strategy groups to offer remote assistance.

While clearly proud of the fact his team can produce everything in-house if it needs to, Tost sees nothing wrong in F1 introducing as many standard parts as possible

“Here 14-15 people are working, and all of them have their own tasks,” explains Tost as we enter the space, which resembles an air-traffic control room. The workstations, placed in two rows at different levels, are equipped with all the same tools, including radio, as are available to Franz and his colleagues on the pitwall.

“The engineers work here during free practice, qualifying and of course the race,” says Tost. “Each of them has a concrete task. One, for example, is responsible for tyre temperatures and pressures. The other one observes what rival teams are doing, listening to their radio communication and so on. They send this information to us on the pitwall, where we can then apply it. This is very important, because on–site [at the circuit] we’re only allowed to have 60 people.”

The ground floor of the building is where the different elements of the car make their journey from design to reality. After visiting the workshop with autoclaves where the carbon parts are baked, we arrive at where the other components are made. Tost grabs a small metal piece off the table – one which will soon become a rear wing detail – and leads us to the massive CNC machine where it had been formed.

“This is my favourite machine,” laughs Tost. “It makes very nice parts, real pieces of art. There is a robot inside and when the machine is programmed it can work 24 hours seven days a week. No discussions about family, no need for holidays, no questions about pay raise. It just works! Fantastic thing.”

Tost shows Karpov the autoclaves where parts are built

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

We ascend to the second floor, via another staircase. This one is a shrine to Pierre Gasly, furnished with pictures from the other of the team’s Monza wins. The 2020 victory was different, though – since it was achieved using a car that had been designed and assembled right here, in Faenza.

Next is the bodywork area. You’re not allowed to take photos here – but Tost does give us the opportunity to gauge the weight of a carbon sidepod (which you can lift with a single finger) and check out the intricately shaped rear brake duct developed by his engineers. Developed, it should be said, without outside assistance, as has allegedly been the case elsewhere in F1...

“I don’t like these brake ducts”, says Tost. While clearly proud of the fact his team can produce everything in-house if it needs to, he sees nothing wrong in F1 introducing as many standard parts as possible.

“They [the brake ducts] cost us a lot of money. It’s like throwing it out of the window. It is a never ending story. We had a lot of discussions with team principals together, and we all agreed we don’t need such complex brake ducts. But the engineers come along and somehow manage to make it even more expensive.

“It’s so much money for nothing. Yes, they generate some points of downforce, but if you consider the costs… But anyway, it’s how it is and we have to accept it.”

The team continues to expand. It has already travelled quite a long way from being Red Bull Racing’s ‘B team’, whose synergy with the mothership upsets rivals. AlphaTauri can be as independent as it needs to be – and Franz always has his ideas of what future directions to pursue.

“The next step is we want to build another building over there for press and marketing,” he says as our factory tour ends in his office, which is right above the main entrance. “We’ll start hopefully in September or October this year. We are just finalising the contract.”

AlphaTauri wants to expand its Faenza premises further - and fill it with more trophies

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

After that, a simulator will be the next step. Right now Tost’s drivers and engineers use the Red Bull one in Milton Keynes, but this is quite a limitation for AlphaTauri. So Tost wants one of his own.

“Simulators are getting more and more important nowadays, because of the limited testing,” he says. “You could also do some sessions on Friday after the free practice to get a back-to-back test and to evaluate something regarding the set-up. It would help us to get more knowledge about the car.

“We’re working on this. We will start with a smaller project hopefully soon. And then a bigger project. This is something for 2023 or 2024.”

In Italy lunch is a meal of supreme importance and Tost gives us a lift, in his Volkswagen Passat estate, to a roadside restaurant, La Tana del Lupo – just two kilometres from the team’s base. Tost likes for time to be spent efficiently – and it feels like his own work schedule in terms of density is second only to the factory robots.

"Experienced people are around 40 years old, and they have families, they have children. And often families don’t want to relocate to Italy. Therefore it’s not easy to bring really experienced people here" Franz Tost

“I’ve never lived more than seven minutes away from work,” he says as he slots the Passat into its parking space.

Excluding the F1 car hanging off the ceiling – a gift of Tost’s – La Tana del Lupo’s interior is modestly decorated. Only one table is covered with a tablecloth, and it’s for the AlphaTauri boss, as indicated by the toy helmet placed to the side and painted in the team’s colours. This place is a favourite of the team, and not only for its proximity to the factory: the output of its kitchen is truly magnificent.

Faenza is one of many towns on the Via Emilia, a 250km road laid down in 187AD by the consul Marco Emilio Lepido. Today the route, which connects Piacenza with Rimini, is roughly tracked by the A1 autostrada and SS9 regional road.

A simulator is also on Tost's wishlist for AlphaTauri

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

In Roman times retired soldiers were granted parcels of land in this area and turned their hands to farming, viticulture and metalwork. Over the following centuries Emilia Romagna acquired a reputation for the quality of its produce and the craft skills of its small-scale industries. Little wonder that the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini should make this region their home.

“The infrastructure here is fantastic,” says Tost. “We are talking here about this motorsport valley, it starts from Parma with Dallara, then we have Ferrari in Modena, Ducati, Lamborghini, us and Gresini [a Ducati-aligned MotoGP competitor], many teams here in this area.

“We have a financial department that’s 100% Italian, the HR department is 100% Italian, logistics is 100% Italian; the mechanics are mixed, but most of them are Italians. And then the design office is mixed – not so many Italians, more English and other countries. Production is also mixed, it’s Italian and English people.”

But despite the beauty of the countryside and the pleasures of the table, Tost says it remains challenging to recruit top talent from abroad.

“The problem is usually the family,” he says. “Experienced people are around 40 years old, and they have families, they have children. And often families don’t want to relocate to Italy. Therefore it’s not easy to bring really experienced people here. But fortunately we’ve got some of them – their families stay in England. I prefer if they take long weekends, than trying to convince families to come to Italy.”

Perhaps this isn’t as big a problem for this team as it could be for others. AlphaTauri is one of very few outfits in F1 not facing a hard deadline because of some five-year plan to win the world championship. It’s in F1 for a different reason, one not predicated upon total victory.

“When Dietrich Mateschitz bought the team, he set our DNA,” says Tost. “There are two pillars: a) using synergies with Red Bull Technologies, because you don’t want to have the development costs of two teams; and b) training young drivers.

“If you have that, you can’t dream about the world championship, so what’s the point? I have zero problems with that, absolutely zero.”

Tost is content with his team's position to develop young drivers

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images