With the intention of creating closer racing and a more level playing field within the sport, Formula 1 have introduced a new set of financial regulations which limits a teams annual spending $140 million. These limits have reigned in the spending of the larger teams, bringing them in line with backmarker teams.

Franz Tost, the team boss at AlphaTauri, acknowledges that the regulations help close up the disparities but do not help the smaller teams with the bigger picture, long term investments which larger teams have such as wind tunnel facilities.

“We still have to work on the infrastructure, to optimise everything on this side,” he admits.

“If I see the simulation tools, and I can only hear what these top team have, we simply don't have that. They invested in the last few years, millions for this.”

Tost continued to discuss the growing importance of simulators in Formula 1, an aspect which he admits the team have not had the finances to invest in to the extent of larger teams.

“We have a good budget, but we never were in a position to invest so much money for simulation tools. And simulation tools are getting more and more important, because we are running less at the track.

“Therefore you need to have this, and I think that there, we still have some deficiencies.”

taking the AT01 for a spin around Imola 😎 @yukitsunoda07 gets back into the F1 groove ✌️ pic.twitter.com/GRYdAEtsTS

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) January 27, 2022

With the introduction of all new Formula 1 technical regulations for the 2022 season, it remains to be seen which teams have best adapted to the changes in line with the cost cap.

“It’s a very unknown story because it's completely new everything,” Tost said of the uncertainty surrounding Formula 1’s new era.. “We don't have any comparisons with others.

“I trust our engineers because they have built two good cars: the AT01 was already a good car and the [2021] car was a next step forward. So why shouldn't they be able to make AT03, even if it's a completely new car, also very competitive?

“But there are, from the technological side, also different philosophies. I just hope that we go in the right direction.

“Where we then really end up, I don't know. But I trust our team, the aero group is doing a very good job and they are going in the right direction.”

While AlphaTauri, once Toro Rosso, may lag behind the frontrunners in terms of facilities, Tost claims the team has been working towards improving for the future. The AlphaTauri boss is also aware they are not the only team building for the future.

“We bought a new hall, and we will make a new building,” he said. “We finish in two years, and there are a lot of things going on to jump us in a good position. But it's not only us, the others do the same. It's what Formula 1 is, a big fight everywhere.”