F1 Report Card 2023: Alpha Tauri’s driver problems and performance cost team seventh

Alpha Tauri had a late resurgence at the latter end of the season, but their troubles with their driver line-up ultimately cost the team seventh in the constructors. 

It was a poor season for the Faenza-based team, in a season where it looked as if the team would end their 2023 season at the bottom of the order. However, a late resurgence in performance improved the team’s fortunes – narrowly missing out on seventh, just beaten by Williams by three points. 

Despite an underperforming car, the team’s biggest concern was to get their drivers under control. In the first half of the season, the only point-scorer was Yuki Tsunoda while Nyck de Vries struggled which resulted in him being shown the door after 10 races. 

The team looked to bring back Daniel Ricciardo to give the team that race-winning experience and while the Australian returned in good form, the team were forced to find another driver as Riccairdo broke his wrist in Zandvoort. 

Aided by a point-scoring result by super sub, Liam Lawson, plus several top 10 finishes (four in the last five), just lost out on seventh in the team table. Ultimately, Ricciardo and Tsunoda’s performances in the last races ended Franz Tost’s F1 career on a positive note before Laurent Mekies comes in, next year. 

With Ricciardo’s race-winning knowledge, plus his obvious ambition to return to the main Red Bull team, and Tsunoda’s ever-growing experience the team looks to be in a promising position for a better result in 2024. However, for this season, the team could’ve – and should’ve – done better.

Report: D

Summary: An unfunctional driver line-up and an underperforming car hindered Alpha Tauri in 2023.

That’s all for the article; F1 Report Card 2023: Alpha Tauri’s driver problems and performance cost seventh!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• F1 2023 Report Card: Williams excelled in 2023 under new leadership
• F1 Report Card 2023: Alpine’s less-than-optimal season
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• Alpine confirm Abbi Pulling for second F1 Academy season in 2024
• F1 Report Card: A recovery drive to P4 for McLaren
• F1 2023 Report Card: Ferrari’s prancing horse stops the raging Red Bull

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.