“They are not themselves,” Helmut Marko admits Red Bull not satisfied with Alpha Tauri’s performances in 2023

Alpha Tauri has scored just two points in the championship this season.

“They are not themselves,” Helmut Marko admits Red Bull not satisfied with Alpha Tauri’s performances in 2023

Helmut Marko (image via planetf1), Nyck de Vries (image via Speedcafe.com)

Alpha Tauri is the sister team of Red Bull Racing. The Faenza-based team develops young talent for the bigger team. However, Alpha Tauri has struggled this season, falling behind in the pecking order. Moreover, rookie Nyck de Vries had made a woeful start to his debut season. Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko revealed that Milton Keynes had been disappointed with its sister team’s results this season.

The 80-year-old remarked about the Italian team’s performances this season. Alpha Tauri currently lies at the bottom of the Constructors’ standings with only two points scored to its name. Although, Helmut did point out the potential reason for this struggle. He stated, “We are not satisfied with the performance of AlphaTauri, But they are not themselves.”

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Helmut Marko mentioned that Alpha Tauri is continuously working on developing young talent for the next big step. As such, it remains an uphill task for the Faenza-based team. Marko even revealed that Red Bull would strengthen its connections with its sister team in the future. With some departments of the team planned to be shifted to Britain.

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Helmut Marko is pleased with Alpha Tauri’s young driver line-up

Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries (image via Sports Illustrated)
Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries (image via Sports Illustrated)

The Faenza-based team has always been the testing ground for young Red Bull drivers. Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo drove first for the Italian team before leaping Milton Keynes. This setup remains in place, with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries still searching for potentially securing a future drive at Red Bull.

De Vries struggled in the first few rounds of the 2023 season. However, the Dutchman has improved his results in recent rounds. Subsequently, Marko was convinced that this proved the entire setup to still be effective in today’s time. The 80-year-old pointed out Yuki Tsunoda‘s vast improvement this season as another testament to Alpha Tauri. He said, “That worked well in the past and Yuki Tsunoda’s current example shows that it still works despite the meager scores.”

Thus, Dr. Helmut Marko has clarified that Alpha Tauri needs to improve its results. However, the Red Bull advisor was aware that the team was in a stage of helping young talent. As such, the Italian team could see its results improve once it is more deeply connected with Milton Keynes. Till then, the Faenza-based team would be looking to score some more points by the end of this season.

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