Will AlphaTauri become Red Bull Racing in miniature? 'It depends on that'

With the departure of Franz Tost as team boss, an exciting time is dawning for AlphaTauri - which will soon announce its new name. With Laurent Mekies (ex-Ferrari) soon at the helm, the Italian team is strengthening ties with Red Bull Racing, including from its new factory in England.

No doubt the competition is watching the renewed collaboration between Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri with suspicion. Whether the gap between the two teams will narrow remains to be seen. "I have no idea. It depends on the quality of the people who will be in the team," Christian Horner responded to that statement to, among others GPblog.

The Red Bull Racing team boss continued: "Of course there are certain parts we can provide, as Ferrari and Mercedes also do. Currently they provide two Grand Prix teams with gearboxes and the suspension, simulation tools and a wind tunnel. And that's a similar relationship [between AlphaTauri and Red Bull]. Then, of course, it's up to them how they use those tools."

In Formula 1, it is not a given that the delivering team is also the strongest. Horner cites Mercedes, which supplies McLaren with various parts, as an example. "You saw that McLaren used the tools in certain ways better than their supplier, in the second half of the year. So it is really up to them how they use what is allowed within the regulations."

Earlier, AlphaTauri said that the suspension supplied by Red Bull Racing had allowed the team to advance in the constructors' championship in the latter stages of the 2023 season. The Italians will also use the Austrian suspension in '24.