Tost slates "not good enough" AlphaTauri

Franz Tost has slated AlphaTauri's woeful past-season performance following its slide to second-last in the F1 constructors' standings.

Red Bull's sister team had previously enjoyed steady progression before a slump in 2022 as it struggled to adapt to the new technical regulations, primarily due to weight issues with the AT03.

After narrowly losing out in a battle with Alpine for fifth in 2021, expectations had been high going into the new season, only for the team to fail to match its ambitions.

Prior to the summer break, Tost had expressed to GPFans his displeasure at the season to that point.

Asked if his mood had changed in the latter stages of the year, speaking to GPFans in an end-of-season interview, he said: “No, absolutely not.

"I cannot be happy with this season because we did not achieve our goals.

“We were simply not good enough in all the different areas. The car was not competitive enough, and therefore, it was difficult to score points, to be in front like we were last year a couple of times.

“I hope that our engineers understand what they have to do for next year's car and that we will come back with a more competitive package.”

Additional reporting by Sam Hall