AlphaTauri ‘must be in top five’ in F1 2020 - Tost

AlphaTauri Formula 1 team principal Franz Tost says his newly-rebranded squad “must be within the top five in the constructors’ championship” in 2020.

The Faenza outfit, formerly known as Toro Rosso, has been rebranded as Scuderia AlphaTauri for the upcoming season and launched its new AT01 on Friday evening in Austria.

Speaking at the event, Tost revealed the team is “very optimistic” heading into the new campaign after its car showed “very good results” in the wind tunnel.

“I must say that we are very optimistic for this new season,” Tost said. "First of all, the car showed very good results in the wind tunnel.

“Secondly, Honda made big progress during the winter months from the performance side as well as from the reliability side, and third we have two good drivers, they showed it already last year.

“So we are really optimistic and the team must perform well. We have a really strong partnership with AlphaTauri and I am really convinced that AlphaTauri will have a successful season.”

Under its past guise as Toro Rosso in 2019, the team finished sixth in the constructors’ championship with 85 points and scored two podiums to mark its strongest-ever season in F1.

Asked what AlphaTauri’s expectation is for the 2020 campaign, Tost replied: “The expectations are that we must be within the top five in the constructors’ championship.

“Our biggest competitors are Renault, McLaren, Racing Point and Haas, and the rest we will see.

“We have a very close relationship with Red Bull technologies,” he added.

“We have the complete rear suspension and gearbox, the hydraulics and the front suspension, that means also from the mechanical side that we are very competitive.”

Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, who each claimed a podium in Germany and Brazil respectively, continue in the team's line-up for 2020.