Red Bull finally confirm AlphaTauri name change as F1 team signs two huge sponsors

Red Bull’s second F1 team will have a new name for the third time since the energy drinks company bought the Minardi team and branded it as Toro Rosso, before switching to AlphaTauri in 2020

The logo of the Visa CashApp RB F1 team, formerly branded as Scuderia AlphaTauri

Red Bull’s sister Formula 1 team will race as Visa CashApp RB for the 2024 season.

For the past four years, the Italy-based outfit has been branded as Scuderia AlphaTauri. Prior to that, it raced as Toro Rosso from 2006 after the Red Bull company bought the team formerly known as Minardi.

Last Thursday, the team’s Instagram account showed a username change to ‘visacashapprb’, hinting at the new name before the news was made official, though the account was later deleted. Red Bull have now confirmed the name change ahead of the new season.

Despite suggestions on social media that the ‘RB’ stands for ‘Racing Bulls’, Mirror Sport understands this is not the case. As well as being a title sponsor for the sister team, the Visa logo will also be appearing on the Red Bull Racing cars.

Visa chief marketing officer Frank Cooper III said: “This is a ground-breaking partnership, and a great opportunity for the Visa brand to engage one of the fastest-growing sports communities on the planet. This alliance resonates strongly with Visa’s vision to inspire individuals to ‘make it’, striving to take small steps for improvement each day, during every race or event.”

Red Bull Technology’s chief marketing officer Oliver Hughes added: “The new identity is not simply a name change, it’s the start of a thrilling new journey designed to take the team to new levels of competitiveness and that’s demonstrated in the presence of one of the world’s most iconic brands as the team’s title partner.”

On top of the new name, the team has a redesigned logo. A brand new car livery will be unveiled by drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda at a special Red Bull event set to take place in Las Vegas on February 8.

Daniel Ricciardo, left, and Yuki Tsunoda will race for Visa CashApp RB this year (

Image:

Getty Images)

The signing of two large companies as title sponsors is significant for the team, which has been haemorrhaging money in recent years with little on-track success in return. Lucrative sponsorship deals are part of the widespread changes taking place to make the project more viable for the future.

A new management team is already in place – Peter Bayer joined as chief executive mid-way through last season, having previously served as secretary general at the FIA. And Laurent Mekies began as team principal at the start of this month, replacing Franz Tost who had led the team since 2006.

And there are significant operational changes going on behind the scenes. Work is being done to bring the two Red Bull teams closer together in as many ways as the F1 regulations will allow, in the hope that the success of the top team will rub off on their sister outfit.

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The extra money from the name sponsor deals will most likely not play a role in improving performance – the team has always been capable of spending up to the budget cap limit – but it will help to balance the books and that could be crucial to convincing Red Bull’s top chiefs that the project is worth funding for the long-term.

And it will not be the only team on the 2024 grid with a brand new identity. The outfit branded as Alfa Romeo up to the end of last year will race as the Stake F1 Team this term – the Sauber name also returning to the grid for the first time since 2018, along with streaming service Kick which also has a deal with the Swiss-based squad.

In that team’s case, the new guise is a temporary one. From 2026, it will transform into the Audi works team as the German carmaker officially enters F1 for the first time.