Why these appointments show that things are serious for Red Bull

A new name, CEO, team principal, chief technical officer and a new sporting director. The drivers remain the same, but everything else will be different in 2024 at VCARB, Red Bull's sister team. It shows the ambition of the top and also the dissatisfaction with the way things have been going in recent years.

Why Tost had to leave Red Bull

Franz Tost is said to have left on good terms. The AlphaTauri team principal was the face of Red Bull's sister team for many years and achieved good results. Yet in recent years, discontent grew at Red Bull and things must all change in 2024. Helmut Marko's statement said it all: 'They thought at AlphaTauri that they were smarter than Adrian Newey.'

Marko's cynical remark said it all. AlphaTauri had become more self-sufficient under Tost in recent years. Designing the parts themselves and buying less from Red Bull Racing. The results spoke for themselves. The team plummeted to the bottom and by early 2023 was at the bottom of the constructors' championship for a long time.

From Red Bull's top management, then, there was a desire to make this efficiency move. Red Bull Racing make money with wins and championships, but with a last place finish, AlphaTauri would have cost money. And that while most of the car could actually be bought from Red Bull, which dominates all races. Why would the brand continue to waste money on a team that supposedly thought it knew better?

What changed at VCARB

Egos were put aside and by 2023 the changes were already well in motion. Franz Tost announced his departure from the team at the end of the season. Successors were already in place. Peter Bayer came over from the FIA as the new CEO, Laurent Mekies was cut loose from Ferrari as the new team principal.

The changes were also immediately visible on the car. The team came out with one update after another in 2023, making the car look more and more like the RB19. AlphaTauri made leaps and bounds, eventually finishing eighth among constructors. It caused great suspicion among competitors, but satisfaction among Red Bull.

Visa Cash App RB also pick up right away in early 2024. Indeed, after a new name and logo, the team made three more major appointments. Tim Goss disappeared from the FIA, where rumours suggested a hostile atmosphere. However, Goss is highly regarded and will now get the job as Chief Technical Officer. Previously in F1, Goss worked for McLaren in various roles.

Jody Egginton will stay on as technical director, but will now have a clear boss over him with a CTO. He will also be supported by Guillaume Cattelani, VCARB's new deputy Technical Director. Cattelani previously worked for Lotus and McLaren in F1 and in recent years worked for Red Bull.

To top it all off, VCARB also brought in Alan Permane. Everyone was surprised that Alpine showed its sporting director the door in mid-2023 in a major clean-up that also saw Pat Fry and Otmar Szafnauer leave. The man who spent over a decade working for the Enstone-based team will now fill that same role for VCARB.

Whether it is the management, the top technical people, the drivers or the new name. Everything shows that things are serious for Red Bull. Performance is needed with VCARB and everything is being pulled out for that. It has to be more efficient, but Red Bull is certainly not skimping on knowledge. VCARB is no longer the little brother, but a full brother.