Fans are utterly opposed to the new name for the Scuderia AlphaTauri Formula 1 team after rebranding to Visa CashApp RB for 2024.
If AlphaTauri shows up for the 2024 season bearing the title Visa CashApp RB, it will be the worst team name in Formula 1 history and a disgrace to Red Bull and the sport itself.
A name change was revealed back in June by the team which was previously known as AlphaTauri, and is owned by and basically operates as a feeder squad for the dominant Red Bull Racing team.
The team will now be called the Visa CashApp Racing Bulls after the team underwent a major rebrand. However, the new name seems ridiculous, as it also displays an overbearing lack of creativity that can only be demoralizing for the team personnel and send a message to the hundreds of millions of viewers that this is not a contender to be taken seriously.
Significant concerns over the plan are also raised by the disjointed manner in which the name—which the team has not yet officially confirmed—has progressively leaked out. It’s no doubt that Red Bull has the right to name the team whatever it desires but Stefano Domenicali should be surprised that he hasn’t applied more pressure to forge a more respectable identity.
Given how much F1 relies on well-known figures from other endeavors to market its product, it may not come as a surprise given how frequently the sport demonstrates a genuine lack of faith in its offering.
It’s even more strange in light of the growing opposition to Red Bull Racing’s partnership with its second team from rival teams. The Racing Bulls team name implies that the team is viewed as less of an independent unit than before, mostly existing as an extension of an on-track advertisement, in addition to causing confusion.
This is also a strategic error, as the team intends to relocate a large portion of its design operation to Red Bull’s Milton Keynes headquarters later this year.
It’s not a new phenomenon to have sponsors listed under the “official” team names. However, this doesn’t appear to a team where you can ignore the name, as evidenced by the airbrushing of any autonomous identity and subsequent reduction to a simple “RB.”
Even the most tasteful option, dubbed “Racing Bulls,” will confuse the new audience that Formula 1 is meant to be wooing, making it a commentator’s worst nightmare.
AlphaTauri was just barely a popular name, as the fashion company didn’t do well while the main team’s name, Scuderia Toro Rosso, was readily translated into Italian. Yet both contributed to its distinctive character, which was rooted in Italy and the Minardi team. Selling the naming rights to the highest bidder and referring to it as “Red Bull 2” effectively deprives it of its individuality, ambition and personality.
This is unfortunate because Red Bull acquired the struggling team prior to the 2006 season, and the team is full of highly accomplished, driven and committed individuals who have consistently performed beyond what was expected of them. Formula 1 and its fans as a whole both deserve better than this.
