Red Bull has moved to quell speculation it could put its junior team AlphaTauri up for sale.
Auto Motor und Sport reported on Saturday a change of management within the wider Red Bull operation may lead to AlphaTauri being sold or relocated to England.
Red Bull dismissed the reports in a statement provided to RaceFans, saying there was “no plans to change the current set up.”
“Red Bull Technology supply components to AlphaTauri and Red Bull Powertrains work with and alongside their team,” a spokesperson for the team added.
Red Bull formed the team in 2006 under the name Toro Rosso – Italian for ‘Red Bull’ – when it purchased the Minardi team. The team’s base remains in Faenza, Italy, and it also operates an aerodynamic division in Bicester, UK.
In 2020 the team was rebranded as AlphaTauri to promote Red Bull’s fashion label. Red Bull minimises the cost of running two F1 teams by supplying some parts to both operations through Red Bull Technologies, and both teams use Red Bull Powertrains.
AlphaTauri fell to ninth place in the constructors championship last year. Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko acknowledged its disappointing performance, but did not confirm whether the team could be sold or moved.
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“We don’t generally comment on rumours,” he told Sky. “[But] it’s also understandable AlphaTauri cannot be satisfied with what it achieved last year, ninth place in the constructors’ championship. But such a decision rests entirely with the shareholders.”
As Toro Rosso, the team supplied a series of junior drivers to Red Bull, including multiple champions Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. Marko said its role as a junior team was “part of our philosophy and Vettel and Verstappen all came to us via AlphaTauri.”
“But as I said, if the team doesn’t perform properly, then it doesn’t help either,” he added.
“You think about how to increase efficiency,” he said. “And when you have one team that wins the world championship and the other is just about ninth place, these synergies just don’t seem to work properly.”
“The overall result is not satisfactory,” Marko added. “As proper business people our shareholders will make the right decision.”
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