With AlphaTauri rebranding itself as Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) after substantial funding from the finance sector giants, the lack of connection to the Red Bull name has become a cause for concern, adding to the misery of a near-horrendous name for the team. The new title sponsors also featuring in the team’s name will bring in around $20 million to the team annually, putting the move into further doubt, given Red Bull GmbH likely had more than enough funds to oversee the team’s operations.
Given the same, the sister team to Red Bull Racing is moving away from its heritage by losing the link to its original identity. With information gathered from ‘The Pad-Hoc‘ podcast, Visa and Cash App demanded that their name be in the team’s name, giving way to the team having to move away from the Red Bull name with only the ‘RB’ initials left to salvage any links between the two teams, although, at this point, even that is open to interpretation.
AlphaTauri ➡ Visa Cash App RB
Visa Cash App RB’s livery to be revealed in Las Vegas on February 8th pic.twitter.com/xCpjz28JqL
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 24, 2024
Initial discussions suggested a rebranding would come owing to (formerly) AlphaTauri’s poor performances in the first half of 2023, where they had to axe Nyck de Vries and bring in Daniel Ricciardo to save face. With the latest name, the team has invited severe backlash from the fans, who are calling for a return of the ‘Toro Rosso’ name.
Given the major change in the team- one that is not welcome by the fans- the merchandise sales could also stand to see a major hit, bringing down the team’s finances by a significant percentage.
With the move, V-CARB is moving away from being a sister team to a much more independent setup, which could prove to be grounds for negative marketing impact and invite further backlash around the team’s image.
No point in comparing Red Bull’s debut with that of Visa Cash App RB
Shortly after the re-branding backlash, Red Bull issued a message defending the team and drew parallels with their own debut from 2004. While the constructors’ champions claim V-CARB has the same “disruptive energy” as they had back in the day, the reality might well be much different.
For starters, Red Bull bought a team and then bought another, and at the time, not a lot of people knew about the energy drink brand.
️ | Red Bull Racing notes that since their start in 2004, they have never had the sponsorship revenue and licensing royalties as they do now.
Christian’s goal is for RBR to become the first F1 team that could sustain itself solely off of sponsorships.
“We’re almost there.” pic.twitter.com/GPYBAZOLGT
— RBR News (@redbulletin) January 28, 2023
Meanwhile, VISA stands as one of the biggest names in their sector, and all they did was invest as title sponsors in an already established team. Hence, the team lacks any “disruptive energy” even remotely similar to the one Red Bull brought with them.
Additionally, a name like Visa Cash App RB or V-CARB can’t really pose itself as an edgy brand, given the consistent parallels being drawn with terms of explicit nature or even laxatives. As such, it hardly seems like the rebranding stands in line with the parent team’s original image of being a disruptive brand in the sport.
