From 2024 onwards, AlphaTauri is going to be completely rebranded. Many have speculated the incoming sponsor, Cash App, to rename the team as ‘Visa Cash App Racing Bulls‘. Naturally, a new identity also spells a new era for the Faenza-based team and as they embark on this new journey, the team has categorically stated that they will not solely bank on young drivers from the Red Bull academy. Instead they will focus on experience as per team CEO, Peter Bayer.
While explaining this decision, ex-FIA man Bayer, told Motorsport.com,
“Franz [Tost] always says, and honestly in the meantime I agree 100%, that a young driver needs three years to be ready for F1.”
The talent pool within the Red Bull stable has failed to convince Bayer otherwise. Rather, he wants to stick with the experienced lot to ensure that the inflow and outflow of information between the driver and the team is more about development of the car and not coaching the driver.
Peter Bayer, CEO AlphaTauri, explained why the Faenza team will not focus on rookies. A choice to get back on top in the Constructors’ World Championship, certainly, but the talents in the Red Bull academy, at least for now, are not convincing. https://t.co/Wioxik3rl5
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) January 21, 2024
In the past, the Red Bull driver academy has produced some exciting talents. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen share seven world championships between themselves for Red Bull. What’s more, drivers like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon are highly sought after drivers with the latter now strongly linked with a move to Ferrari for 2025. But the current crop of drivers fail to instill that confidence in Bayer.
Hence, as things stand, it looks like the team will stick with 8x Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, who is slated to start his fourth full-time year in F1. Keeping their driver lineup aside, however, Red Bull and its sister team have other major problems to deal with.
Red Bull – AlphaTauri alliance placed under the lens by rivals
Recently, another major controversy that has flared up in the F1 paddock is the relationship between Red Bull and its sister team. Many paddock insiders and rivals believe that their partnership is not with the spirit of the FIA’s regulations.
One such concern sprouted during the Singapore GP weekend. As per The Race, a suspension overhaul for AlphaTauri meant that they had basically adopted Red Bull’s rear suspension as it is. This has led to teams believing that the exchange of IP and race parts is somewhat collusive and against the intentions of the Sporting Regulations devised by the governing body.
Needless to say, with the closely held relationship with Red Bull here to stay, the ‘Racing Bulls‘ are expecting to have a much better season than they endured in 2023, when they just missed out on P7 in the Constructors’ to Williams.
