AlphaTauri eyeing closer Red Bull ties despite threat of outcry from F1 rivals

25 August 2023 , 06:00

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AlphaTauri eyeing closer Red Bull ties despite threat of outcry from F1 rivals

Already closely affiliated with Red Bull Racing, sister team AlphaTauri plans to create even closer ties from next year.

AlphaTauri is about to go through some major changes. One of the most obvious will be the name – Red Bull's clothing line will no longer be used, nor will it revert to the more recognisable Toro Rosso moniker. The next identity of the team remains a mystery, though there is talk that Hugo Boss might be involved.

But while the name change is obvious, far more important alterations are set to be made. One potential move will be for the team to move its UK research and development facility from Bicester to Red Bull's campus at Milton Keynes.

Such an arrangement would no doubt raise eyebrows among F1 rivals. After all, rules limit how much collaboration there can be between two teams and there has been close scrutiny of Red Bull's relationship with AlphaTauri in the past.

But new AlphaTauri chief executive Peter Bayer is confident that there would be no problems if his team did move in at Milton Keynes. And he pointed to the situation between to other F1 teams as an example of how it can be done legally.

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"It's about the Chinese walls you build in between," he told Autosport. "Look at Haas and Ferrari, for example. And I guess Laurent [Mekies, incoming team principal] and I bring that experience to the table – 'Guys, we definitely don't want to do something illegal, but we also know that certain things can be done, because we see it happening left and right.'"

There was talk a few months ago that, given AlphaTauri's poor results and the expense of running a second team, Red Bull were considering the prospect of selling up. But Bayer says he has since had reassurance from the top brass that the team will remain in the Red Bull family.

He said: "For me probably the most important message from the shareholders was that AlphaTauri will not be sold, so we've got that stability. I guess there's two reasons, one is an emotional attachment to the team, and it makes perfect sense to have that younger brother within the family, who's taking care of young driver development.

"That will stay, so the purpose will remain, for us to find young talent. We might extend that a bit and go a bit more structured into these areas. And at the same time, they said find synergies, work closely with Red Bull Racing, exploit the technical regulations, which currently we don't do – the results speak for themselves!

"But also on the commercial side, on HR development, pathways for technical engineers and managers, there are so many more things we can do together. And that's really the strategic focus that I'm working on."

Daniel Moxon