Wednesday’s confirmation that AlphaTauri has been rebranded as Visa Cash App RB is a lot to take, least of all because the name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but more so because Formula 1 branding has taken a nose dive into delirium.
Like Stake F1 Team before it, VCARB (an equally ridiculous acronym for Red Bull’s sister squad doing the rounds) is a financially incentivised branding exercise that does little to build bridges with audiences except to invite ridicule.
Stake’s two-year stint as the name of the team formerly known as Alfa Romeo has robbed fans of a certain age of a brief rebirth for the Sauber name – before the keys of the Hinwill-based outfit are handed over to Audi in 2026.
Instead, a gambling outfit and its streaming-based subsidiary will take turns to be the victim of memes from the online F1 community and a great minnow of the series’ yesteryear is left permanently collecting dust.
However, the Stake F1 Team branding, irritable as it is, is based on the sound logic that the team will benefit from the cash injection for selling naming rights for the next two years.
Despite the cost cap at play in F1, Sauber/Stake/Kick isn’t exactly the top dog when it comes to financial investment and outside help is always welcome to one of the smaller outfits on the grid.
But Visa Cash App RB is a rebrand for the sake of a rebrand. No doubt the team will be receiving a hefty sum from its new naming deal, but surely its parent company Red Bull GmbH has more than enough cash?
The first musings that the team was planning on a new identity coincided with AlphaTauri’s poor run of form in the first half of the 2023 season, but team name changes don’t have the same impact as aerodynamic upgrades when it comes to lap time. Even the AlphaTauri name was somewhat of a loss to certain F1 fans.
Toro Rosso had built credit as a plucky underdog, home to emerging talents and forever entwined with the magical maiden win with Sebastian Vettel in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, with fantastic liveries to go with it.
AlphaTauri was an attempt to sell absurdly priced but incredibly bland fashion items. However, at least AlphaTauri retained the Italian flair synonymous with the Faenza-based outfit from its Minardi days.
The echoes of the plucky Minardi underdogs lived on in Toro Rosso (when Red Bull bought the outfit ahead of the 2006 season) and AlphaTauri (to an extent), so much so that there was a call from some that impending name change should bring back either the Toro Rosso or Minardi name. Instead, we are left with a convoluted money-grabbing tongue twister.
It strikes a similar feeling to when a historic football ground sells its name to a corporate sponsor, agitating the fanbase and losing character in one single stroke.
Then there’s the inclusion of ‘RB’ in the name. The likes of Zak Brown have been vocal in their criticisms of the Red Bull and AlphaTauri (VCARB, Visa, Visa Cash App, Visa Cash App RB) joint ownership structure, a bond set to be tightening when it comes to the junior team’s approach to developing its car.
Motorsport Week’s Editor Taylor Powling himself has pointed out that “having the new team name as [title sponsor] RB surely isn’t helping Red Bull’s cause to the growing complaints surrounding two-team ownership in F1?”
The Red Bull element in the new name is further strengthened by the fact that the company name of Visa Cash App RB is Racing Bulls. Company name Racing Bulls, team name, Visa Cash App RB. Confused, so one would imagine will be the commentators and broadcasters of the world.
Team affiliations aside, Visa Cash App RB reflects a growing trend of corporate partnerships becoming part of the fabric of F1. Of course, the sport and its teams must be well funded, but like the recent advent of another street circuit being added to the calendar in Madrid, is the money worth it?
First glances at the Madrid F1 track set to host the Spanish GP in 2026 show a twisty, stop-start copy-and-paste street circuit that will likely handicap the fastest racing machines on the planet.
First glances at the name Visa Cash App RB show something fans will struggle to warm to. Imagine the shirt sales the team would have generated had they opted for a return to Toro Rosso or Minardi. Imagine…
It’s harder to imagine Visa Cash App RB merch flying off the shelves.
VCARB is a team suffering an identity crisis, no longer a proving ground for Red Bull Juniors the team is now quoted for fighting its way up the pecking order in its own right.
Its driver lineup of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda reflects that goal and the stance on rookie drivers appears to be keeping them in reserve. At the launch of the new identity, CEO Peter Bayer said “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.”
A hothouse for talent, with one driver still fighting to rediscover his mojo, another entering his fourth season having yet to reach his full potential and a promising youngster in Liam Lawson on the sidelines – with a silly marketing exercise of a name.
If only there was a team with a clear identity, a recognisable and well-loved name with a dedicated mission to forge its own path in Formula 1, say an Andretti Cadillac for instance. If only.
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