Peter Bayer is convinced that the new AlphaTauri website is the key to success

AlphaTauri aims to enter into a new phase, a goal that has been reiterated several times during the 2023 season. After the failure of choosing Nyck de Vries, the Italian team turned to a well-known veteran of the team, Daniel Ricciardo. The progress observed in the later part of the season has led the team to believe in a more promising future than at the beginning of the season. The Australian driver has repeatedly emphasized a change in mentality within the Italian team, and the closeness with the parent team, Red Bull, is likely not a coincidence.

This evolution is also manifested by changes at the team management level. After holding this position from 2006 to 2023, Franz Tost retired, resulting in reshuffling within the management and the arrival of personnel from Ferrari and the FIA. Indeed, it is the right-hand man of Ferrari, Laurent Mekies, as well as Peter Bayer.

A reinforcement of the infrastructure

The partnership between Red Bull and AlphaTauri is expected to be strengthened starting from the 2024 season. At the end of the 2023 season, the two entities have come closer together to conclude new agreements. AlphaTauri no longer wishes to simply be Red Bull’s subsidiary, solely testing young drivers. The Italian team aims to increase its competitiveness. As part of this ongoing expansion, the aerodynamics department based in Bicester (northeast of Oxford) will be transferred to Milton Keynes (north of Oxford and 45 minutes away from the old base) in order to be closer to the Austrian factory and the future new wind tunnel.

This new facility will also house the engineers responsible for computer-assisted fluid dynamics. With this relocation, the new facility will be larger and better equipped than its predecessor. The Milton Keynes Performance Center is necessary because the Bicester facilities are already becoming too small, “said Peter Bayer, CEO of AlphaTauri. “We need to be attractive. First and foremost, it starts with the team itself, its identity, its facilities, and career opportunities. That is why these facilities will be extremely important. Additionally, the lease in Bicester is expiring, so we had to take action. The obvious advantage of being closer to Red Bull Racing and their campus is that it will facilitate wind tunnel work and simulator work. This simplifies the lives of all engineers.”

A team that is anglicizing

The headquarters of AlphaTauri is located in Faenza, Italy. However, Peter Bayer acknowledges that it has always been challenging to convince British engineers to relocate to southern Europe. Furthermore, with this new department located in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, the expansion of the facility requires new recruitment within the team.

“We already have aerodynamicists and designers, and the modeling workshop is located in the United Kingdom,” explained the CEO of the Italian team. “We are currently conducting an intense recruitment campaign and we are now excited to offer the best British talents a workplace in the United Kingdom. I hate to say it because Faenza is beautiful, but it’s a problem. If you don’t speak Italian and if your children are no longer babies, the move is very difficult. I think we have Britons who will return to Milton Keynes. We have offered the opportunity to Italians who, if they want to move, can do so, but it’s not mandatory. The majority of new hires are clearly British.”

The expansion of AlphaTauri’s infrastructures shows the willingness to progress and assert new ambitions. “We are moving to a larger facility and we have outgrown our current space,” he added. “New opportunities will arise for us. The activity we are conducting is similar, but we are increasing the size of this operation, so it’s positive.”

AlphaTauri finished the 2023 season with a flourish, rising from 10th and last place to the 8th position in the constructor championship.