We’re officially in that part of the season where F1 teams have started firing up their 2021 power units and launching their cars. This time, it was AlphaTauri’s turn to reveal their engine fire-up.

Work on this year’s power unit naturally began back in 2020 itself, with minor tweaks in development always a welcome sight. After an improved 2020 season, the team formerly known as Toro Rosso would expect greater performance from their new engine.

The Faenza-based outfit took to Twitter and posted a brief audio clip of their brand-new power unit roaring to life. Rest assured, the sound generated has pleased quite a few of the team’s supporters.

AlphaTauri will launch their car for the new season on February 19

The fire-up now comes as a precursor to their main launch event, just a few days after McLaren’s launch. As mentioned in an earlier announcement, AlphaTauri will now reveal their 2021 package on February 19.

Although the cars will not get on to the track until winter testing in Bahrain, the team has held private tests. Rookie Yuki Tsunoda has already begun work on the adaptation to his new team by testing a 2019-spec car at Imola and Misano in the last few weeks.

Even Pierre Gasly was reportedly scheduled to drive the car at Misano, only to test positive for COVID-19. But safe to say, at least the young Japanese has begun preparations for his first F1 season.

The team want to emerge as proper midfield contenders in the upcoming F1 season

2020 turned out to be a particularly memorable year for Gasly and AlphaTauri. Their biggest moment naturally came in the form of a shock Italian GP win at Monza, which delighted many F1 enthusiasts.

Battling quite closely with Ferrari, signs indicated that the Italian team could well make the step up into the midfield in 2021. Their new Honda power unit, entering its final season with both Red Bull teams, hence will give the team optimism to look forward to.

The season draws ever so close, and hence drivers are getting ready to embrace the hard-fought action that comes along with it. So, when the time comes, AlphaTauri will also certainly be ready to do their job on track.

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