Christian Horner involved in AlphaTauri's F1 future as Red Bull links tighten

05 September 2023 , 19:43

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Christian Horner involved in AlphaTauri's F1 future as Red Bull links tighten

Christian Horner said he was responsible for hiring the new leadership at AlphaTauri as the Formula 1 team prepares to further strengthen its already close links to Red Bull Racing.

The team has had close ties with Red Bull since the energy drinks firm bought it in 2006. But its fortunes, particularly in the last two seasons, have differed dramatically.

While the main Red Bull team has been dominant, winning every race this season and the majority of them in the 2022 campaign. In contrast, AlphaTauri finished second from bottom last year and currently sits at the foot of the constructors' championship with just three points from 14 races.

Red Bull have committed to not putting the struggling sister team up for sale. But there are significant changes going on behind the scenes, including a new management team led by chief executive Peter Bayer and incoming team principal Laurent Mekies, who will join from Ferrari.

Horner, team principal at Red Bull, has plenty already on his plate in that role. But he has now revealed that he also played a major role in deciding that new management team.

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"We will have a closer working relationship," he told Planet F1. "I was asked to identify a couple of candidates to get involved and create a new management team at AlphaTauri. The two guys that I felt were right for the role were Peter and Laurent, I think they'll make a strong team."

Regarding the collaboration between the two teams, he added: "I think that the relationship, within the realms of what we're able to do within the regulations will become closer. There are aspects of the car that AlphaTauri haven't taken advantage of under what's permitted under the supply rules previously. So I can only see the relationship between the two teams becoming ever closer."

One of the changes which will be more noticeable, albeit less important from a performance perspective, will be another name change. The AlphaTauri name will disappear from F1 at the end of this season and the replacement branding has yet to be made public.

But a deal with Hugo Boss is reportedly close to being finalised, with the fashion label set to become the name sponsor of the team. It has previously worked with Aston Martin as the Silverstone team's official fashion partner.

Daniel Moxon