AlphaTauri will become the second team to run a 2022 Formula 1 car on-track with a shakedown planned on Tuesday at Misano.
Red Bull’s sister team launched its AT03 via a digital reveal and a series of renders on Monday but while other teams choose that option because their real car isn’t finished, the AlphaTauri is in a state of readiness.
AlphaTauri will follow Aston Martin’s shakedown of the AMR22 last Friday by running the AT03 on-track on Tuesday.
Although the team will shakedown its car at Misano, it has released edits of the digital car at Imola as part of its launch content.
F1 cars can only be run extensively outside of grand prix weekends in the official tests, which will take place in Spain (February 23-25) and Bahrain (March 10-12).
However, teams are also entitled to two promotional events where the running is limited to 100km, on special Pirellis.
These are often used pre-season to shake down new cars before testing and double up as filming days for teams to get promotional material.
“From an engineering perspective it’s the first time the car runs on track, so it’s important to take systems checks, look at the basic various systems and software on the car, check it’s working, bug-checking,” said AlphaTauri technical director Jody Egginton.
“Just the basics to know that everything is doing what it’s meant to do.
“It’s basic data collecting and it’s all very useful ahead of the main test where we start to focus on more complex topics and longer running and performance.”
The massive change in technical regulations make a pre-test shakedown more valuable than ever in 2022.
Aston Martin’s early shakedown gave it a full 12 days before the first test begins and AlphaTauri is unlikely to be the last to hit the track ahead of Barcelona.
Mercedes will launch its 2022 car on Friday and shake it down at Silverstone on the same day.
Ferrari and McLaren are also tipped to run their cars on track before Barcelona.
