AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost admits they are way behind were they expected to be

AlphaTauri ended the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the 2023 season with zero points after Yuki Tsonda finished 11th and debutant Nyck de Vries came in 14th after a strategy blunder.

The dutiful Tost began by congratulating sister team Red Bull.

First of all, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for a fantastic start to the season, finishing with a one-two and so far ahead of the rest of the field. From our side, I am not satisfied with our performance," he said.

"From a technical point of view, we have a lot to work on as the car isn't on the level I expect. We know where the deficiencies of the car are, and we have to work to increase the performance with new upgrades, which I hope will be effective when they arrive."

The writing was on the wall from pretty early on after a qualifying performance that saw them begin the Grand Prix in P14 and P19.

"After qualifying P14 and P19, we were able to recover in the race, and I must say that both drivers did a good job. Yuki pushed hard to finish in the top 10, but unfortunately, he missed out by a couple of tenths," he said.

"Nyck also did well in the race; it was important for him to learn the characteristics of the car in race conditions and get as much experience as possible.

"Both Yuki and Nyck have done an excellent job tonight from lights out until the chequered flag. They managed the tyres well, provided good feedback to the pit wall, and delivered a good performance."