The AlphaTauri team showed a new nose on the new 2021 F1 car after using the old nose in the presentation and studio photos as they tested the new nose for the first time in Imola where they had a filming day.
Imola is a frequent test destination for the Italian team based in Faenza and Imola track served for the first test kilometers for the new AT02 with Honda’s power unit, which also showed a new nose.
AlphaTauri has spent its two development tokens on a new nose structure and front suspension that now looks more like Mercedes, a trend among more and more F1 teams in recent years.
The new nose is rounded at the top, but does not taper towards the back like last year’s Mercedes nose and has the widest possible mounts, unlike the Mercedes that keeps them closer to the middle.
With the new nose, the team has joined a growing number of teams that have a Mercedes-style nose, without a central extension that meets the rule of minimum cross-section and side channels between maximally wide carriers that allow more air to pass under the nose.
In addition to the AlphaTauri, Renault (2020), McLaren (2020 and 2021) and Racing Point (2020) also have a similar nose while Mercedes has been using this type of nose since the beginning of the 2014 hybrid era.
The nose on the Mercedes W06 became narrower in 2015 and more rounded in 2016 on the W07 and was later narrowed just behind the rounded tip to allow more air to pass past the nose where the aerodynamically profiled ‘cap’ has been located since 2017.
The team already used this type of nose in 2017 under the name Toro Rosso, but in 2018, 2019 and 2020 they used the old type of nose with a central extension and side channels under the nose.
AlphaTauri had a private test day yesterday on the same track where they were allowed to cover an unlimited number of kilometers with a two-year-old car, but the new car was tested only today.
#Imola #AT02 @AlphaTauriF1 in pista interessante notare soluzione muso stretto #F1 #F1Tech Ph ( © ) Federico Basile
The new #AT02 on track at Imola very interesting Nose tight pic.twitter.com/VjwdSqXBp1
— SalaStampaF1 (@SalaStampaF1) February 24, 2021
Old nose on AlphaTauri AT02 (Photo: Red Bull)
McLaren MCL35M nose (Photo: McLaren)
Carlos Sainz in Toro Rosso STR12 at the 2017 Singapore GP (Photo: Red Bull)
Mercedes F1 W11 nose (Photo: Daimler)
