Scuderia AlphaTauri entered 2020 as a newly renamed entity. The team, Red Bull's junior Formula One outfit, had operated under the Toro Rosso banner since 2006 but was rebranded ahead of the 2020 season to promote AlphaTauri, the Red Bull-owned fashion label. The car designation AT01 reflected the new identity: the first car of the AlphaTauri era.
As the junior team within the Red Bull organisation, AlphaTauri shared several technical components with the senior Red Bull Racing squad. The AT01 shared its suspension, gearbox, and hydraulics with the Red Bull RB16, a standard arrangement permitted under the regulations that allowed customer teams to source listed parts from a parent constructor. The AT01's nose evolved from that of its predecessor, the STR14, with minor revisions to air inlets and front bodywork. The car underwent its first shakedown at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in northern Italy. Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat were retained as the driver pairing.
The AT01 was scheduled to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, but the event was cancelled at the last moment following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine further events were either postponed or cancelled in the months that followed, compressing the season significantly and shifting the calendar to a series of European races held through the summer.
The AT01 finally debuted competitively at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in July, where Gasly finished seventh and Kvyat was classified twelfth. Over the course of the season Gasly consistently outperformed his teammate. The 17-race championship eventually yielded one win and one podium finish for the team, placing AlphaTauri seventh in the constructors' standings.
The defining moment of the AT01's season came at Monza in September, at the Italian Grand Prix. The race was shaped by the safety car, retirements among the frontrunners, and a dramatic scramble for position in the closing laps. Gasly — who had been demoted from Red Bull Racing to Toro Rosso mid-season in 2019 and was racing in 2020 with a point to prove — found himself at the front following the retirements of rival frontrunners and held on to win. The victory was AlphaTauri's first as a constructor under any name, and Gasly's first Formula One win. It remained one of the most unexpected results of the 2020 season.
Following the conclusion of the 2020 championship, a modified AT01 was deployed during tyre testing conducted after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Pirelli used the car to evaluate 2022-specification tyre compounds, a standard procedure in which a previous-year chassis is adapted to carry prototype rubber.
The AT01 cemented the AlphaTauri rebrand with an immediate high-profile result and gave the team a credibility and identity distinct from its Toro Rosso years. For Gasly personally, the Monza win was a turning point that validated his career following the difficult spell at Red Bull Racing. The car also demonstrated that the shared-component arrangement with Red Bull Racing, while limiting in absolute terms, produced a competitive platform capable of winning when circumstances aligned.