Frustrated AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost Clarifies ‘Not Trusting Engineers’ Comment

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost clarified his previous remarks after shockingly saying that he does not ‘trust his engineers anymore’ after a disappointing performance during Friday’s practice sessions.

The Austrian criticized his aerodynamic engineers, in particular, for the lack of pace in the car. The 67-year-old explained how he expected a much better car and that it was disappointing to see his team’s drivers even struggling to make the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries finished the first practice session on the 10th and 13th, respectively, and performed even worse during the second session.

Franz Tost blames data instead of engineers in a clarification statement

While speaking to F1’s official website, Franz Tost stated, “During the winter months I heard many times, and I saw the data on the paper and on the computer, that the car improved a lot on the performance side.”

The Austrian then added that when he saw that the car was not performing at the same level as it was during the winter months, he began losing trust in the data provided by his engineers.

there’s some time to be found overnight as there’s not much in the midfield fight 🤏

practice report 👇

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) March 17, 2023

The 67-year-old concluded his remarks by stating that he hopes his engineers have gathered enough data now after a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix to understand where the car needs improvement.

The Bahrain GP disappointed AlphaTauri as the Austrian outfit failed to score any points. Yuki Tsunoda finished the race in 11th, while Nyck de Vries finished 14th and a lap behind Max Verstappen.

What did Franz Tost previously say about AlphaTauri’s engineers?

While speaking during Friday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix press conference, Franz Tost blamed his engineers for the poor start to the F1 2023 season.

The Austrian said that he does not ‘trust his engineers’ anymore as he was always told that the team is making good progress when in reality, they are way off the pace.

The 67-year-old added that he only cares about the lap time and does not care if his criticism seems harsh. While Tost did eventually backtrack on his previous remarks, the engineers are unlikely to take them too kindly.