Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri, or recently rebranded Visa Cash App RB, is mostly known for its close ties with Red Bull Racing. Even though they have an identity of their own, people at times prefer to link them with its more successful sister team from Milton-Keynes. However, the team is doing everything to change it and build a new identity, as they are more than just Red Bull GmbH-owned teams. In his recent interview, Daniel Ricciardo emphasized this as he talked about moving out of Red Bull’s shadow.
Ricciardo sat down with Lawrence Barretto of Formula 1 recently, where he talked about his new journey with the Visa Cash App RB team, their rebranding, and everything related to it. “There’s a lot of new personnel… Some big partners came on board. The team has always taken itself seriously, but this is another step up now. It’s no longer just a platform for Red Bull Racing; it’s a time for us to fight, you know, at the front of the midfield,” said the Australian driver.
In a shocking turn of events last year, Ricciardo rejoined AlphaTauri from his reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing. This occurred after Red Bull decided to sack Nyck de Vries due to the Dutchman’s poor performance. The Honey Badger joined the team in Hungary after his Pirelli tire test at Silverstone impressed team bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.
However, things got more tricky a few races after Ricciardo made his comeback. The former McLaren star sustained a wrist injury during the free practice session of the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. As a result, he had to sit outside, and Liam Lawson replaced him for four races. In the end, Ricciardo came back to his seat at Austin to continue till the end of the season.
Ricciardo and his 2023 F1 season with AlphaTauri
Following two bittersweet years at McLaren, Zak Brown and his team decided to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo. After Ricciardo lost the seat, he did not find any suitable seat for himself on the grid and decided to sit back for a year. However, Red Bull came calling.
As he joined Red Bull, little did he know that he would get to start things all over again. The Honey Badger’s Red Bull debut was with Toro Rosso in 2012, and then, over a decade later, he returned in an AlphaTauri seat. With him in the wing, the Faenza-based team came from below to finish the season in P7.
Scuderia AlphaTauri ended the Constructors’ championship with 25 points, just three points shy of Williams’ 28 points. Meanwhile, Ricciardo shone bright in an AlphaTauri and claimed six points in seven races. As VCARB, formerly AlphaTauri, improved significantly over the latter half of 2023, Ricciardo believes they can continue the momentum in 2024.
Furthermore, Ricciardo also admitted that they want to focus on the midfield now and stay in the top five of the Constructors’ Championship. With new team principal Laurent Mekies, new sponsors, and a changed sub-base [the team changed their Bicester base to Milton-Keynes for better facilities], the rebranded Visa Cash App RB team looks stronger than ever with Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda spearheading their attack.
