Since its inception in 2006 as Scuderia Toro Rosso, the AlphaTauri team has provided a platform for young and talented drivers to showcase their skills and gain experience before potentially moving up to the senior Red Bull Racing team. As of today, the Red Bull parent company has announced huge changes for the team.
The team’s origins can be traced back to the purchase of the Minardi team by Red Bull in 2005. Red Bull aimed to create a junior team that would serve as a talent pool for their main outfit, Red Bull Racing. Thus, Scuderia Toro Rosso, later rebranded as Scuderia AlphaTauri, was born. The team’s name change in 2020 to AlphaTauri reflects the increased integration with Red Bull’s fashion brand of the same name.
AlphaTauri’s primary objective is to groom young drivers and provide them with an opportunity to showcase their talent in a competitive environment. Over the years, the team has seen several promising drivers pass through its ranks, including Sebastian Vettel, who achieved his breakthrough victory with Toro Rosso in 2008 before moving to Red Bull Racing and clinching four consecutive Drivers’ Championships.
One of the team’s defining moments came in 2008 when Sebastian Vettel secured Toro Rosso’s first race win at the Italian Grand Prix. The 2020 season saw the emergence of Pierre Gasly as a standout driver, with the Frenchman securing a sensational victory at the Italian Grand Prix, the second victory for the junior squad.
It was a poignant moment for both Gasly and the team, highlighting their potential to challenge the established front-runners.
This has certainly not been the case in the most recent two years, and for that reason Red Bull are set to make huge changes.
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Fernando made his feelings quite clear to Yuki 😆#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/CF7oNoECD3
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 26, 2023
AlphaTauri to change its name
In an interview with an Austrian media outlet, Helmut Marko states that AlphaTauri will undergo a change for the 2024 season. Two new investors will have a stake in the team. Its name is also set to change.
The last team on the AlphaTauri grid, Red Bull’s “little sister”, is set to change its name. The team had already changed its name for the 2020 season, to become more independent from its parent team.
“AlphaTauri will have two new directors, Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer, from 2024. There will be new sponsors and also a new name,” explains Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor from Austria.
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During the off-season, the two teams were at the heart of rumours concerning their sale or a move to England.
In the end, it will only be the Faenza-based team that will have a new identity. The Austrian confirms that “there will be new sponsors and also a new name.”
The direction is clear: based on Red Bull Racing, within the limits of what the regulations allow. Tinkering is not a good solution.
AlphaTauri’s objective would be to get back on Red Bull’s heels by buying as many parts as possible from the group’s flagship team in order to get back into the mid-table race. And that would mean no longer playing at the bottom of the standings, as the Italian-Austrian team is currently doing.
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The driver duo may not be renewed according to Helmut Marko: “Yuki is having a very good season, with some unfortunate results and penalties, but the performance is OK. But we’re not happy with Nyck de Vries, so we’ll be looking into that too.”
According to the Red Bull advisor, there will be no Austrian to defend the brand’s colours: “It’s very simple. Nobody has the necessary speed. You could bring an Austrian into Formula 1, but we want young drivers who have the potential to win. There’s nobody in Austria.”
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