Red Bull‘s junior Formula One team, formerly known as Toro Rosso and then AlphaTauri, has been renamed Visa Cash App RB ahead of the 2024 season, the team announced on Wednesday.
Red Bull hopes the new deal will help move the team, known for giving F1 debuts to reigning world champion Max Verstappen and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, up the competitive order and into the upper midfield.
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The deal is Visa’s “first major global sports sponsorship in more than 15 years”, according to Wednesday’s announcement, and further strengthens Red Bull’s F1 ties with the United States. While its senior team, the reigning world champions, are already in a title partnership with Oracle and in a technical partnership with Ford. Visa’s logo will also appear on the Red Bull car.
How fans and media will refer to the company’s second team under its new guise remains to be seen — Red Bull insists the full name is Visa Cash App RB, but within the company it is being referred to as V-CARB.
It was reported for much of last year the team would be called ‘Racing Bulls’ but this has been dropped — sources have told ESPN that name was met with resistance internally — leading to the RB acronym being used instead.
Sources have told ESPN that both JP Morgan and Hugo Boss had been in the running to secure a naming deal last year, before Visa and Cash App emerged as leading candidates.
Visa Cash App RB will continue to operate primarily out of Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri’s headquarters in Faenza, Italy, although it is moving parts of the operation to Red Bull’s UK factory in Milton Keynes.
Team boss Peter Bayer said the new deal will help drive Visa Cash App RB up the grid.
“It’s fantastic to reveal the new identity and to welcome new partners as we embark on the next phase of the team’s Formula One story,” he said in a statement.
“Faenza is entering a new era of racing, staying true to our roots as a hothouse for talent but now with an even greater focus on competing for the biggest prizes in F1. We have a bold vision for the team led by myself and team principal Laurent Mekies and having future-focused partners such as Visa and Cash App alongside us on that journey is hugely exciting.”
Visa and Cash App will also partner with Red Bull’s second entry in the F1 Academy, the series aimed at promoting young female talent up the racing pyramid.
Early last year, Red Bull turned down an offer to purchase the…
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