Why RB believes F1 team name debate is a “good problem to have”

We’re supposed to call the outfit that fields the cars the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, although the company behind it – as seen for example in the email addresses of employees – is officially known as Racing Bulls.

Fans and media have got used to teams changing names over the years. It’s easy to forget that Red Bull was once Stewart, Mercedes was born as BAR (while using the former Tyrrell entry), and Aston Martin used to be Jordan before landing on what is now its fifth identity following Midland, Spyker, Force India and Racing Point.

Likewise, the team which started life in Faenza as Minardi was known as Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri before the latest incarnation emerged.

However, arguably no name change has received as much pushback from fans and media alike as the move to Visa Cash App RB, with some folk believing that the team has sold its soul and left itself with an anonymous identity that will mean little when those sponsors eventually move on.

It also strikes a chord at a time when the F1 organisation has cast doubts on the value that the Andretti-Cadillac combination can bring to the series.

The change has its roots in an internal Red Bull decision to end the sponsorship from subsidiary AlphaTauri which had given the team its name for four seasons.

New CEO Peter Bayer stressed he didn’t want to be tied to a partner name and instead wanted something generic that would stand the test of time – and to which sponsors could be attached.

There was no desire to go back to Toro Rosso, regardless of the heritage of the team that brought on the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and current driver Ricciardo. Instead, the unimaginative name Racing Bulls emerged as an alternative.

Meanwhile the team’s marketing folk, with some help from the wider Red Bull organisation, landed two major US-based partners from the financial sector.

The representatives of Visa and Cash App met each other at the Las Vegas GP and discussed how they could best work together and leverage their joint sponsorship of the team.

Somewhere along the way, the Racing Bulls name was pushed into the background and the RB shorthand was adopted instead, with the sponsors’ names in front of it. The VCARB acronym was created as an alternative moniker and given some official recognition as the type ‘number’ of the car.

It’s standard practice for sponsors to be attached…