"Step by step" development ensures constant AlphaTauri improvement - Tost

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has stated his belief that the "step by step" development approach implemented by the team makes it simpler to identify potential wrong turns and fix problems with upgrades.

Going against the grain, AlphaTauri elected to bring numerous small upgrades to the track each weekend this year rather than bring a single large upgrade package.

This continued in Bahrain where the team ran new front wing elements and pieces on the bargeboards.

Explaining the thinking behind this policy, Tost said: “If you bring one big upgrade and it doesn’t work from the first minute onward, it is difficult to find out where you have the problem.

"If you upgrade smaller parts then it is easier to get control of it and it looks like the upgrades which we have brought, which [for Bahrain] were on the side of the bargeboards, a little bit on the front wing and a bit on the floor, are working so far.”

This philosophy is a new approach for the team and, with the budget cap set to be introduced as of next year, is an approach other teams could adopt to prevent money being spurned on a single, large upgrade that fails to deliver the results expected.

Tost added: "We changed our philosophy of development. It’s not that we have been bringing a big upgrade, we do it step by step because the engineers then have a better overview if something doesn’t work."

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