"Kinda disappointed"– Fans react to AlphaTauri's 2022 challenger

AlphaTauri has unveiled their challenger for the 2022 F1 season, the AT03. The new car features the iconic 'bull' along its body, with some minor modifications being made to its overall color scheme.

Fans got a special treat from the Red Bull sister team on Valentine's day, with the Scuderia team unveiling their AT03 through a futuristic-looking video on their social media pages. The livery is similar to 2021's AT02 but seems to have a slightly different color scheme. For example, the nose of the car, which in all previous editions has been white in color, is now deep blue.

Fans reacted rather mildly to the Austrian-owned team's latest car, with some confusion over whether the reveal displays only the new livery or the full 2022 design. One fan wrote on Twitter:

“The livery is certainly not ugly and still among the better looking ones so far. But I am kinda dissapointed in my own expectancies. I thought: completly new car designs, rules, engines, aero packages, tires. So the means a chance to a total new livery approach as well.”

Another fan claims that AlphaTauri has only revealed the livery for the new year due to its car sharing components with Red Bull's RB18. Red Bull showcased their upcoming car earlier this month, but failed to reveal any technical changes made. The fan wrote:

“This looks like a livery rendering only. Nothing tells me that this is the final design, much like @redbullracing car because they’re sharing the same parts, so neither team would show their close to their final designs.”

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Fan leaks of AlphaTauri's new livery turned out to be real

A fan post on the official F1 subreddit r/formula1 sent fans into a frenzy, having allegedly leaked the team's 2022 livery. While many doubted the credibility of the leaked livery, the image reflects the exact same design as released by AlphaTauri. The new car clearly features the acronym 'HRC' at the back of the car. HRC stands for Honda Racing Corporation and is synonymous with MotoGP, but will be used in F1 from 2022 onwards.

The team had a decent campaign in 2021, losing out to Alpine despite consistent performances from Pierre Gasly. The French outfit finished fifth in the constructors' standings due to tremendous performances by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

Gasly had his best-ever season in the sport, consistently proving his prowess in qualifying sessions. The Frenchman managed to qualify within the top six on 14 occasions.

Due to 2021 debutant Yuki Tsunoda's lack of consistency, however, the team were unable to match Alpine's routine point-scoring finishes. The rookie had an underwhelming debut season in the sport after finishing third in the previous year's F2 season. The Japanese driver failed to support Gasly during race weekends, often leading to the team's loss against Alpine.

With Pierre Gasly hoping for a "Brawn GP-like surprise" in 2022, AlphaTauri will be hoping their recently-unveiled AT03 helps them rise to the top steps of the podium this year.