Last Updated on February 25 2024, 8:02 pm
Much has been written over the winter of the Formula One team once known as the minnow Minardi team. The Faenza based squad was acquired by the Red Bull drinks empire mogul Didi Mateschitz and run for the benefit of sponsored junior racers.
Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and now the Visa Cash App Racing Bull team are the only ‘2nd team’ owned by the same owner as another and this has been causing Zak Brown to complain loudly in recent weeks.
V-CARB collaboration questioned
This topic has been largely ignored until the recent announcements that AlphaTauri would be creating much closer ties with Red Bull Racing with rumours around that the team will eventually relocate completely to the Milton Keynes campus. Much of the operation did move over the winter from Italy to a Banbury base asDr. Marko predicted last summer.
Further the V-CARB team is now following more of a Haas F1 approach to designing and building their car and will take components from their sister team RBR. In Singapore last season the AT04 was fitted with the RB19 rear suspension and there was an immediate impact in results as the team racked up 18 of their 25 points for the year over the closing races.
Most F1 teams have shifted their focus to next year’s car by the time they arrive in Abu Dhabi for the final round of the year. Not AlphaTauri.
“Everyone’s motivated to chase down Williams to the line and we have a big upgrade coming for Abu Dhabi, which we hope will give us the missing tenths to fight for some top positions,” explained the team’s CEO Peter Bayer.
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“The original strategic goal was 2024, but because we’ve put ourselves into this situation now, it comes in handy, so to say that we have another little joker in the back pocket.”
Of course AT had a shot at taking Williams P7 away at the Grand Prix finale in the desert, in they end they fell short but their revival in the final third of the season was nothing short of incredible.
Many F1 observers believed given the new closer relationship with Redd Bull, the V-CARB car for this year would look very similar ton the RB19. Yet despite the strengthened relationship the two challengers from the Red Bull camp appear to employ different aerodynamic approaches.
Given Red Bull Racing’s radical new RB20 this may be less of a surprise on reflection, but as Daniel Ricciardo explains work on the current V-CARB challenger began long before the end of last season.
Evolution unlike Alpine
“It’s a continuation of last year,” Ricciardo said. “Obviously from the outside, it’s very different, everything really. But inside the car, it’s really an evolution of Abu Dhabi.
“We brought an update for that race and it’s really just a continuation of that. Obviously, there’s a new chassis and everything. But let’s say, the philosophy is still a continuation.
“And I think a lot of other things will change around the team – personnel, the way we run the team and go racing.
“The car felt in a positive way, [it was] quite comfortable because it was similar to last year.”
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Better results than last year
At the end of the three days of testing the V-CARB drivers were ranked with times as follows:
11 – Yuki Tsunoda 1m31.275s (+0.950%)
14 – Daniel Ricciardo 1m31.861s (+1.601%)
Roll the clock back a season an Yuki was sixth fastest in pre-season testing but come qualifying just seven days later and the Japanese driver could only produce a time good enough to start the grand prix in P14.
The first thirteen rounds up to the Italian Grand Prix were a grind for AT. They scored just a point in each of the races in Australia, Azerbaijan and Belgium before the summer break so the bar to better their efforts last year is low.
Williams says V-CARB “is better”
Ex-Williams car design Guru Gary Williams says: “RB [V-CARB] has a better car than last year so I’m pretty sure it will be mixing it at the front end of that midfield bunch but from that group, there will still be a bit of a gap to what I would class as the top five teams.”
Yet the master plan back in Milton Keynes os for the team to do even better than that, something which Daniel Ricciardo hints at even this early in the year.
“Start of the season, we need to be a little bit cautious,” he said
“The target as the season goes on is the front of the midfield. But I would say now where we are, it’s probably more in the midfield.
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Mclaren and Alpine disappointments
“I’m not sure we’re yet at the front, but that is certainly our target.
“I know some people are quite excited about us coming into the season, but I want to play it a little bit cautious.
“We have a decent car, but we still have a lot of work to do, and the numbers we brought for the test, we believe there’s still some things to find.”
However, Alpine and McLaren were behind their targeted development in Bahrain this last week and its no long shot bet that sees Ricciardo and Tsunoda making the final ten in qualifying week in and out.
Ricciardo hints at genuine success
Aston Martin have retained their perpetual underachiever in Lance Stroll so there’s one place in the top ten on offer which would have been locked down by any other team.
Daniel Ricciardo back with a full time F1 drive for the year after his miserable exit from McLaren sounds motivated and genuinely excited to be in the Red Bull sister team. When asked who was favourite for next weeks podium, the Aussie replied: “I think from what me kind of being a viewer [can see], it looks like Red Bull and Ferrari would be the strong favourites to be on the podium here in a week.”
The F1 driver nicknamed ‘the honey badger’ then hinted it cold be his own V-CARB team who are then in the mix. “Then after that, it’s yeah, probably pretty close, but I would say we’re still in that midfield fight,” grinned Ricciardo.
In his review of testing Gary Anderson has V-CARB ahead of the usual back of the pack teams and suggests they will also likely beat Alpine who’s car looks troublesome. Throw in the Stroll inconsistency and regular points are on offer for the team once known as Minardi and now as the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
So many spelling and grammar errors make this a hard read. Shame.