Just 11 Days After Daniel Ricciardo’s Arrival, AlphaTauri Pushes the Limits on $85000 Weapon to Give the 8x GP Winner a Much-Needed Boost

Red Bull has been dominating the competition thus far, winning all ten races, and is arguably the favorite to win the remaining races. However, Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, a squad that falls under its umbrella, has continued to be among the F1 grid’s slowest cars. Nevertheless, 11 days after hiring Daniel Ricciardo, the side has finally used its most powerful $85,000 weapon to give the honey badger the boost he needs to accomplish his ultimate objective.

AlphaTauri’s campaign got off to a terrible start. Silly errors and pace have plagued the side thus far. Amidst this, the rookie driver de Vries’s repeated blunders wasn’t forgiven as Red Bull swung their axe at him as he got replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. Evidently, the honey badger used this as an opportunity to sit in a Red Bull seat. However, his mission appeared far away with the sluggish AT04, so the crew now arrived with some more specialized upgrades that cost them about $85,000 after bringing some massive upgrades to the British Grand Prix.

The latest improvement focuses on the rear-end grip in slow corners, as opposed to the Silverstone upgrades, which were centered upon a new floor, upper body work, and diffuser. With their upgraded specification for the Hungarian GP, AlphaTauri has also caught the attention of the racing community with their interpretation of the regulations on the rear wing, signaling a departure from the customary curvature of the upper and main element into the endplates that has become the norm under these regulations introduced from 2022.

To maintain that tip exposure, the connection points to the main plane have been shifted a little inboard. This will cause vortices to form as the high-pressure air on top tries to roll to the lower-pressure zone beneath it. This will enable it to increase the amount of downforce generated by the entire rear wing assembly and attempt to connect that to the effectiveness of the beam wing and diffuser. The Hungaroring’s reputation as a circuit with downforce characteristics similar to Monaco emphasizes how crucial the upgrade is.

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Daniel Ricciardo had enough time to settle into the AT04 before Hungarian GP weekend however his performance at the Budapest circuit yesterday wasn’t what the fans would have expected to see. Nevertheless, when Ricciardo was questioned about his aspirations for the upcoming weekend, he provided a chilling response.

Amidst mounting performance pressure, what are the expectations of Daniel Ricciardo from his comeback race weekend?

After more than eight months, Danny Ric will, at last, get the adrenaline rush he has been yearning for. However, his first stint after the long break didn’t go well as after failing to set time in the wet opening hour, the Australian finished 10 places behind Fourth-place Yuki Tsunoda in the final session.

And as soon as the honey badger was caught by the reporters, asking him about the pressure and expectations, the flamboyant Australian said, “I think positions are probably not too relevant at the moment. But I think it was more for me today to feel basically where I am with the car.” Later, he added by quoting how he handled the pressure, he said, “I think obviously there is a lot of outside attention, but once I put the helmet on and got in the car, it all felt like I never really left.”

While wrapping up the conversation, the 34-year-old said that a little work might put the AlphaTauri ahead. He added, “To be honest, it doesn’t feel too bad. For sure. I think a bit more out of me, and for sure there is some things already I feel in the car that we can try and work on.”

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Where do you think the honey badger will finish today’s qualifying rounds given the Alpha Taur’s new upgrade?