While the inelegant new name for Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team captured headlines, their announcement today was arguably more significant for another reason.
When Red Bull first took over the former Minardi team and rebranded it as Toro Rosso, its objective was to serve as a training ground for young drivers. A “kindergarten”, as original team principal Franz Tost put it.
A series of drivers were promoted from junior categories in the hope of becoming Red Bull racers. Some of these succeeded spectacularly, including Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.
Today Red Bull has formally confirmed a change in priorities for the team. Having been “launched as Scuderia Toro Rosso and charged with bringing future champions to the grid,” the team declared it is “now reborn with an expanded mission to battle for the sport’s biggest prizes.”
This is a significant change for a team which previously embarked upon season after season with Tost declaring this would be the year they finally finished inside the top five, which they never once achieved as Toro Rosso, or after they became AlphaTauri in 2020.
That’s not to say they didn’t enjoy some success. Vettel made the team race-winners before the senior squad took its first victory, wielding what was largely the same chassis as Red Bull’s, back in 2008 when teams were permitted to do so. Pierre Gasly added a second win, scored, like Vettel at Monza, when the cards fell his way in 2020.
But consistent success was always going to elude this team as long as it was turning over drivers at the rate of one every year or two. Or, as in the case of Nyck de Vries last year, less than half a season.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Following its rebranding, Red Bull has made it clear it has higher expectations for its second team. “The new identity is not simply a name change,” said Red Bull Technology’s chief marketing officer Oliver Hughes, “it’s the start of a thrilling new journey designed to take the team to new levels of competitiveness.”
This may sound like so much marketing bluster, but it is consistent with other changes already in place. Tost has headed off into retirement, leaving the team in the hands of recently appointed CEO Peter Bayer and new team principal Laurent Mekies, a star signing from…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…