AlphaTauri gets new parts from Red Bull 'for free' due to loophole

The cars will remain pretty much the same in 2021. At least, that was the expectation. However, with the new floor, things will change and now it seems that customer teams have another huge advantage over manufacturers.

In 2021, the new aerodynamic rules were supposed to be introduced, but the coronavirus caused this to be postponed for a year. However, a new floor had to be designed by the teams and each team (except McLaren) was given two tokens to modify one part of the car.

An advantage for the customers

However, there appears to be an advantage in the regulations for customers. Teams like AlphaTauri, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and Haas drove in 2020 with parts they bought from Red Bull Racing, Mercedes or Ferrari respectively. These teams can now upgrade their cars to the latest version 'for free'.

This means that AlphaTauri can replace parts bought from Red Bull in 2020 with 2021 parts without using tokens. This is a big step up from teams like McLaren and Renault who make their own parts but are tied to tokens.

New Red Bull parts

''I don't think it's unfair, because it's not the latest development, it's parts that have been used before. We have already taken some parts from Red Bull,'' Franz Tost told Motorsport-Magazine.com. The Austrian also has no pity at all for teams like Renault (read: Alpine).

''Renault is a manufacturer. They have so much money, so much manpower and so much knowledge, that they should always be two or three steps ahead of us in the development'', says Tost. The rear of the AT02 will not be upgraded with Red Bull parts. ''We have the same transmission as last year and have not changed the rear suspension either'', concludes the AlphaTauri team boss.