AlphaTauri’s new team name has finally been revealed with Red Bull’s sister outfit to be known as Visa Cash App RB in the new Formula 1 season.
They have run under the name of Red Bull’s fashion label for the last four seasons but have undergone a wholesale rebrand for 2024 amid a change of senior management at the team and a revised philosophy as they bid to improve their competitiveness.
Payment giant Visa has signed a multi-year deal to be a global partner for both Red Bull-owned teams – the title-winning one based in Milton Keynes and the Italy-based former AlphaTauri squad – and will have its logos on both cars, while also appearing in the title name of the rebranded latter. Cash App is a money app and also appears in the full team name.
The rebranded team’s new livery for 2024 will be unveiled at an event in Las Vegas on February 8.
Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda are again driving for the team this year.
In addition to the F1 team, the Visa Cash App RB brand will also be used for Red Bull’s entry in F1 Academy, with all 10 teams supporting the all-female series as it joins the F1 race weekend bill at seven venues this year.
“It’s fantastic to reveal the new identity and to welcome new partners as we embark on the next phase of the team’s Formula 1 story,” said Peter Bayer, Visa Cash App RB’s chief executive who joined the team last season.
“Faenza [the team’s factory] is entering a new era of racing, staying true to our roots as a hothouse for talent but now with an even greater focus on competing for the biggest prizes in F1.
“We have a bold vision for the team led by myself and team principal, Laurent Mekies and having future-focused partners such as Visa and Cash App alongside us on that journey is hugely exciting.”
It is the second new F1 name for 2024 after the Sauber-run team changed their name to Stake F1 team from Alfa Romeo.
Three days of pre-season testing begin in Bahrain on February 21, while the opening grand prix of the 2024 season takes place at the same venue on Thursday February 29-Saturday March 2, all live on Sky Sports F1.
Another new era begins at Red Bull’s other Formula 1 team
The former AlphaTauri team, which originally ran under the Toro Rosso name up to 2019, have traditionally served as the feeder team for the main title-winning Red Bull outfit since being bought by the energy-drinks giant in 2006.
The Faenza-based operation have famously provided the initial F1 platform for Red Bull’s most promising junior drivers – with Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo the headline names to have graduated to careers at the senior team.
But that status as strictly a junior team has evolved in recent years to something more akin to a sibling to Red Bull’s parent and they will begin another new era in 2024 with an increased focus on improving their form in the wake of a disappointing past two seasons.
In 2023, they registered their lowest-season points haul for 13 years and only a late rally in performance lifted them from 10th and last to eighth in the Constructors’ Championship.
The team are taking a greater number of the permitted ‘transferrable components’ from the senior Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team under F1’s regulations, while they are also increasing their existing UK presence. The team currently have a satellite base in Bicester but they will eventually have a greater presence at Red Bull’s main Milton Keynes campus.
The relationship between the Red Bull-owned teams drew fresh criticism from McLaren chief executive Zak Brown last week, who renewed his calls for rule changes to be made to outlaw what he described as an “A-B team” situation and the sharing of certain parts. He also expressed concern about the two Red Bull teams developing closer ties in the UK.
The Red Bull-owned teams have rejected those concerns and any suggestion they could gain unfair advantages in the cost-cap era, pointing out that the two outfits remain autonomous.
With the long-serving Franz Tost leaving the team at the end of last season, former Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies is their new team principal, while Bayer held senior roles at the FIA, F1’s governing body, before joining as CEO last spring.
In eight-time race winner Ricciardo, 34, and improving Japanese driver Tsunoda, the 23-year-old who is entering his fourth season at the team, what is now Visa Cash App RB also have the most experienced line-up in their history.
24 races in 2024! Watch every round of next season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29-March 2. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
