AlphaTauri Formula 1 CEO Peter Bayer has said the Faenza-based outfit’s UK expansion to new facilities in Milton Keynes will be “extremely important for the team’s progress.
The bulk of AlphaTauri’s operations occur in its Faenza, Italy headquarters, but the squad has had an aerodynamics department working in Bicester for a considerable time.
However, with plans to expand its foothold in Britain, the team is moving its aero deportment to a new set of facilities in Milton Keynes, where its sister squad Red Bull is based.
Much has been made of Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s partnership in recent months, but Bayer says the majority of the reasoning behind the move is recruitment-based.
“The Milton Keynes Performance Centre is necessary because the Bicester facility is becoming too small already,” Bayer told Motorsport.com.
“We don’t have any parking spaces, we have no canteen. We have to be an attractive employer.
“First of all, it obviously starts with the team as such, with the identity, but then there’s also the facilities and the opportunities for people to have a career path.
“And that’s why those facilities will be extremely important.
“Also, the lease in Bicester is running out, so we had to make a move anyway.”
Naturally, being close to Red Bull will have its benefits for AlphaTauri moving forward.
Since the start of 2022, AlphaTauri has employed the use of Red Bull’s Bedford-based wind tunnel, so in bringing the aero department closer to Red Bull headquarters, liaison regarding wind tunnel work should run smoother, as Bayer explains.
“The advantage of obviously being closer to Red Bull Racing and their campus is that it will be easier for us when it’s about wind tunnel work, about simulator work,” Bayer added.
“So that’s all will make life easier for all the engineers.”
F1 has long held a largely British workforce, with the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams and Haas all having a foothold on UK shores.
Bayer states that a part of expanding AlphaTauri’s British base is to develop its UK-based workforce, as attracting Brits to move to Faenza is an admittedly difficult transition.
“In terms of moving people we have anyway aerodynamicists and designers, and the model shop is in the UK,” Bayer explained.
“But we are currently running quite an intense recruiting campaign and we are now happy to offer top British talent a workplace in the UK.
“Because for them, I hate to say that, Faenza is beautiful, but it’s an issue.
“I give you my own example. When I started, I took my wife, we drove to Faenza. She said, ‘Oh, it’s beautiful.’
“And we had pizza, and drove out to the sea. And then she said, ‘So, what about the school?’
“I said, ‘I don’t think there is one.’
“‘And what about potential job opportunities for me?’ I don’t think there [are any].’
“If you don’t speak Italian, and if your children aren’t babies anymore, the move is very difficult, to be honest.
“I think we have a couple of British engineers who will go back now to Milton Keynes.
“We offered the opportunity to Italians who want to move to they can, but there’s no must. But clearly the bulk of the new hires are British.”
Technical Director Jody Egginton added that the moving of the aero department to Milton Keynes is a “positive” one, given the fact they were “outgrowing” the outgoing facility.
AlphaTauri finished eighth in the 2023 Constructors’ Championship with a tally of 25 points.
The team experienced a mixed campaign, fielding four drivers across the year: Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson.
Tsunoda and Ricciardo from the team’s 2024 line-up, with a rebrand, rumoured to be Racing Bulls, expected before the start of the 2024 season.
Also new for 2024 will be the outfit’s Team Principal, with ex-Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekkies assuming the role in place of the outgoing Franz Tost.
