Red Bull confirms: AlphaTauri name disappears from Formula 1
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General
AlphaTauri will no longer be called AlphaTauri in Formula 1 next year. The team of Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda will be renamed from 2024 onwards, but that is not the only thing that will change. As previously announced, the Faenza-based formation will get two new managers, and it is uncertain whether the duo of de Vries and Tsunoda will still exist next year.
AlphaTauri is going through tough times. After the 2019 season, Toro Rosso was renamed AlphaTauri, the name of a clothing brand. The results over the past year and a half have not been what they should have been either, and AlphaTauri as a clothing brand is running quite a loss, and being the main sponsor of a Formula 1 team is a hefty expense. It looks like there might be a need for change.
New strategy
AlphaTauri have increasingly gone there own way in recent seasons, designing more and more parts itself. That is about to be thrown on the shovel, as the old concept of 'taking over as much as possible from Red Bull' is about to be embraced again, Marko explained in an interview with Austria's Kleine Zeitung.
"The course is clear: Follow Red Bull Racing as far as the regulations allow. Designing your own is not the way," said the 80-year-old Red Bull advisor. But there is more, as the AlphaTauri name will be discarded: "There will be new sponsors and a new name." But Marko is not yet willing to reveal what the team will be called from next season onwards.
De Vries still with AlphaTauri next year?
AlphaTauri currently occupies the last spot in the constructors' championship with just two points, with both points being scored by Tsunoda. Still, it is far too little, especially for a team with such strong ties to World Championship leader Red Bull. Will we see Tsunoda and De Vries back next year? "Yuki is having a very good season with unfortunate results and some penalties, but his performance is good," said Marko, who is less pleased with De Vries. "About him, we are not satisfied, we are also looking at that."