AlphaTauri boss Tost expects Max Verstappen to be challenged in 2023

AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost has suggested Max Verstappen will face closer competition in Formula One in 2023 after coasting to the title last year. The 67-year-old was speaking as his team launched their car for the upcoming season with Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda hoping for better results after the team endured a disappointing 2022. 

Verstappen is widely expected to be the man to beat in Formula One again this season after winning the driver’s title on each of the last two occasions. His 2022 campaign was one of the most dominant in the sport’s history with the Dutchman winning a record-breaking 15 races in a calendar year as beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to the championship by 146 points. 

However, some have expected the battle to be closer this season as other teams adapt to the new regulations brought in last season. AlphaTauri boss Tost is among them with the Austrian expecting closer competition throughout the grid over the course of the next 12 months. 

Speaking at the launch of the AT04 in New York, Tost said: “I think that the whole field will be much closer together. Of course, the big three teams still have an advantage from their infrastructure, from the personnel side, but I’m quite convinced that in 2023 the cars will be much more evenly matched.

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“In addition, while [Max] Verstappen won the championship quite early on in the season last year, I don’t expect that one driver will have such a big advantage this year and win so early.

“I think it will become a fight that goes on until the end of the season. That’s what the fans, spectators, and we all want to see.”

Tost will be hoping his prediction comes through for personal reasons with AlphaTauri badly struggling over the course of 2022. The Italian outfit finished a disappointing ninth in the Constructors Championship in 2022 after years of challenging towards the front of the midfield.

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There have been major changes during the off-season with rookie Nyck de Vries replacing Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly with hopes high that the former Mercedes reserve can live up to the standards set by his countryman Verstappen. 

Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda faces a make-or-break 12 months with the team likely to consider other options if he continues to underperform. 

It remains to be seen whether or not Tost’s prediction comes true but Formula One fans will not have long to wait to see if they do. The 2023 season gets underway in Bahrain on March 5 with pre-season testing taking place at the same venue a week earlier.