AlphaTauri renamed Visa Cash App RB for new F1 season

Red Bull's junior Formula One team, formerly known as Toro Rosso and then AlphaTauri, has been renamed Visa Cash App RB ahead of the 2024 season, the team announced on Wednesday.

Red Bull hopes the new deal will help move the team, known for giving F1 debuts to reigning world champion Max Verstappen and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, up the competitive order and into the middle of upper ground.

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The deal is Visa's “first major global sports sponsorship in over 15 years,” according to Wednesday's announcement, and further strengthens Red Bull's F1 ties with the United States. While its senior team, reigning world champions, is already in title partnership with Oracle and in technical partnership with Ford. The Visa logo will also appear on the Red Bull car.

It remains to be seen how fans and media will refer to the company's second team in its new guise. Red Bull insists the full name is Visa Cash App RB, but within the company it's called V-CARB.

It was reported for much of last year that the team would be called “Racing Bulls,” but that was dropped – sources told ESPN that name met with resistance internally – which led to the use of the acronym RB instead.

Sources told ESPN that JP Morgan and Hugo Boss were in the running to strike a naming deal last year, before Visa and Cash App emerged as leading contenders.

Visa Cash App RB will continue to operate primarily from the Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri headquarters in Faenza, Italy, although it will transfer some operations to Red Bull's UK factory in Milton Keynes.

Team boss Peter Bayer said the new deal would help push the Visa Cash RB app up the grid.

“It’s fantastic to reveal the new identity and welcome new partners as we begin the next phase of the team’s Formula 1 history,” he said in a statement.

“Faenza is entering a new era of racing, staying true to our roots as a talent pool, but now focusing even more on competing for F1's biggest prizes. We have a bold vision for the team led by myself and Team Director Laurent Mekies and having forward-looking partners such as Visa and Cash App alongside us on this journey is extremely exciting.”

Visa and Cash App will also partner in Red Bull's second participation in F1 Academy, the series aimed at promoting young female talent up the racing pyramid.

Early last year, Red Bull turned down an offer to buy the junior team — Mark Mateschitz, who owns 49 percent of the energy drink company, said his late father Dietrich always wanted to race with it. two teams in the sport — and instead, the company turned its attention to finding a naming partner in an effort to make the team more competitive.

One of the reasons Red Bull never seriously considered promoting Daniel Ricciardo to replace Sergio Perez last season was the seven-time race winner Australian's desire to lead the newly named team into a new era.

Team building with Red Bull is a topic of discussion heading into the new season, with some Visa Cash App RB staff moving to Red Bull's Milton Keynes factory.

Red Bull insiders said Faenza would remain the team's operational center. At least one rival team is not convinced: McLaren boss Zak Brown has already highlighted his concerns about a closer partnership as a potential way of getting around F1's budget cap.

Red Bull declined to comment directly on Brown's latest comments on the partnership.

While Red Bull has won six constructors' championships since its arrival in 2004, its second team, which joined the grid the following year, has enjoyed limited success in F1.

It is more commonly known as the training ground for Red Bull's brightest young talents. Vettel, who became a four-time world champion with Red Bull, scored the energy drink company's first ever victory in F1 when he won for Toro Rosso (Italian for Red Bull), at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix .

Pierre Gasly repeated this triumph by winning the Italian Grand Prix in 2020, by which time the team had been renamed in honor of Red Bull fashion brand AlphaTauri.

Verstappen, a three-time world champion, made his debut with the team in 2015. Alex Albon, who races for Williams, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz also began their F1 careers with the team.

Under its AlphaTauri identity, which it took over in 2020, it finished 7th, 6th, 9th and 8th in the constructors' championship.