Yuki Tsunoda feels AlphaTauri again becoming the Red Bull junior team should have happened “three years ago”.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed this week that as of next season, AlphaTauri will undergo a complete overhaul.
Alongside the arrival of a new team principal Laurent Mekies, and with outgoing FIA general secretary Peter Bayer becoming CEO of the team, there will also be a name change and a switch in direction.
As was previously the case before the team was allowed to forge its own path in F1, it will again work closely with Red Bull.
Speaking to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, Marko said: “AlphaTauri will have two new leaders in Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer [the outgoing FIA general secretary] from 2024.
“There will be new sponsors and also a new name. The orientation is clear – (it will be) based on Red Bull Racing, as far as the regulations allow. Do-it-yourself constructions are the wrong way.
“So the decision has been made. AlphaTauri will remain fully owned by Red Bull and will continue to be run as a junior team.
“The co-operation with Red Bull Racing will be closer, also in terms of cost cap and synergies.”
Japanese driver Tsunoda joined AlphaTauri in 2021, with results becoming few and far between over time, to such an extent his two 10th-place finishes in Australia and Azerbaijan this season are the only points the team has scored.
Whether Tsunoda will still be driving for the team next season remains to be seen, but asked whether there would be a long-term benefit for AlphaTauri, he said: “Definitely, especially on the performance side.
“As we’ve seen over the last two years we’ve not really been in the place we wanted, especially last year.
“We needed to change something. They gave us a chance for one more year to improve but it’s not changed much.
“So it will be a good thing to have a lot more connection between Red Bull and AlphaTauri. Probably it should have been like that three years ago.
“Anyway, I think I’m pretty optimistic, with a stronger connection it should be better overall.”
As for the team’s new name, Marko has not offered any suggestions.
Previously known as Toro Rosso – Italian for Red Bull – the team rebranded as AlphaTauri in 2020 in a bid to increase the exposure of Red Bull’s fashion arm.
Offering his thoughts on the potential name change, Tsunoda added: “As for the name, I don’t know what it’s going to be. I just saw it in the news for the first time. It won’t affect me much I guess, so we’ll see how it goes.”
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