After Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda complete a filming day with the new AlphaTauri, team boss Franz Tost says that the first impressions of the car are "really positive".

Ahead of the first day of pre-season testing, the Faenza-based recently outfit completed a filming day at Misano, which saw duo Gasly and Tsunoda complete a combined 100km of running.

Taking to the track, situated less than hour from the team's Faenza base, both drivers experienced their new challenger for the very first time in damp conditions, adding to the excitement of the day.

Alongside the new technical regulations, that sees a drastic upheaval of the aerodynamics, the drivers also experienced the new 18" tyres.

"At a filming day the kilometres in the car are very limited," admitted Tsunoda, "but from what I've discovered so far, I'm feeling positive about the AT03. Now I want to use the next days of testing to build my confidence in this new car, learn as much as I can and provide the engineers with my best possible feedback, to be ready for the start of the season with the race in Bahrain."

"The new car is really different," added Gasly, "and I have to say the first feeling driving it was quite good, even if the track was wet and therefore slippery. I really hope this new generation of car will improve the racing, which is what makes it exciting for all of us drivers. This is a brand-new car, with lots still to be discovered. So, we start now in Barcelona, where we will have a lot of work to do to maximize the six days of testing available to us before we get to the first race in Bahrain."

"I think it's fair to say that the technical changes made for this upcoming season are the largest made in Formula 1 for a very long time," said technical director, Jody Egginton, "so it's a big difference this year. Firstly, it's good to see the car running and it's great to see all the hard work come together in that first run, but this is just the first step in a long journey to understanding the car and continuing to develop it. There's constant optimisation, using what we've learnt from previous cars and re-evaluating everything to get the best package possible heading into pre-season testing and then the first race."

"The first impression of the AT03 is very positive," concluded Franz Tost. "Hopefully the on-track battles will be much closer, for Formula 1 - as for any kind of sport – it's very important that many competitors are able to win races and I think F1 is going into the right direction with the new regulations and the cost cap. I think we have a promising package but now we have to wait and see how we compare once all cars take to the track at pre-season testing."

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