“More than logical” is Red Bull senior boss Dr Helmut Marko’s response to last nights rumours about the Red Bull Formula 1 junior team AlphaTauri potential sale. On Saturday, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport published a story according to which Red Bull’s F1 B team is either to be moved to the UK to save costs, or could even be sold off completely.

Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko does not deny this. In an interview with Sky Sports F1 he only says: “We generally don’t comment on rumours.”

Since the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull GmbH has been run by former football manager Oliver Mintzlaff. Unlike Mateschitz, he is not a passionate motorsport fan, but is primarily concerned with the economic success of the group.

And there AlphaTauri is a cost factor. The income from P9 in the Constructors’ World Championship and from sponsors is apparently not enough to cover costs, despite the global Formula 1 boom, reports Auto motor und sport.

Marko admits: “It is understandable that one cannot be satisfied with what AlphaTauri achieved last year, P9 in the Constructors’ Championship. But such a decision is entirely up to the shareholders.” And he repeats himself when he says:

“These are rumours that we don’t comment on in detail.”

Two teams under the same owner

Marko was one of the inventors of the Red Bull project with two teams. His master plan has always been to run AlphaTauri as a Red Bull Racing customer team. But the regulations no longer allow that to the same extent as they did almost 20 years ago now.

“You think about how you can increase efficiency. If you have one team winning the World Championship and the other is only around 9th place, the synergies don’t seem to work properly,” admits Marko.

Industry insiders suspect that the Austrian would be reluctant to sell AlphaTauri, formed in 2006 from the former Minardi team in Faenza, Italy. But if Mintzlaff wants to sell, Marko will have to carry out the order from Fuschl.

AlphaTauri is “part of our philosophy. Vettel and Verstappen all came to us through AlphaTauri. But if the team doesn’t perform properly, it doesn’t help. People look at that. And that’s more than logical,” Marko admits.

To make matters worse, not only is the AlphaTauri Formula 1 team underperforming in both sporting and economic terms, but apparently the fashion brand of the same name, which is supposed to be promoted in the pinnacle of motorsport, is not achieving the hoped-for success either.

Marko: “The overall result is not satisfactory. As proper business people, our shareholders will make the right decision.”

Purchase price to be around 700 million dollars

That someone would want to sell a team in times of economic boom in Formula 1 seems unusual at first glance. At second glance, however, the purchase price could be a compelling argument.

Allegedly, there is an offer of 700 million US dollars on the table – from three parties who have apparently also registered their interest in a Formula 1 entry with the FIA.

In the story, Auto motor und sport names three potential interested parties. First: the British junior team Hitech of Oliver Oakes, currently involved in Formula 2 and Formula 3, among others, and closely linked to the Red Bull junior team.

Second: Michael Andretti. Whether he is prepared to put 700 million on the table remains to be seen. Not so long ago, he offered half that, 350 million, for Sauber – and was rebuffed.

Third: the Mumbai Falcons racing team, backed by three Indian businessmen. This project, however, is considered to have the least chance.

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