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The AlphaTauri name is expected to disappear from the F1 grid with Speedcafe revealing the registration of Racing Bulls trademarks last year.
That included not only the name but a logo.
However, the rebrand has not yet occurred and officially the team is known as AlphaTauri RB.
It is a subtle change to last year courtesy of the the addition of ‘RB’, which many have taken as an indication of the intended new identity.
Furthering that is the revelation a new web address has been registered.
Last July, the RacingBulls.com domain was registered, while earlier this month VisaCashAppRB.com was purchased, too.
It is thought the team’s formal name will be Visa CashApp Racing Bulls.
While the precise owner of the domain has been masked by the use of an agency, it is the same company that registers RedBullRacing.com.
That organisation bills itself as a domain management service for “exceptional brands”.
The desire to change the AlphaTauri team name for the coming season stems from something of a repositioning of the AlphaTauri team.
To date, it has been largely a junior operation and used as a finishing school for prospective Red Bull drivers.
Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz and more have progressed through the team in their formative years.
Going forward, the concept is to have the operation compete in its own right – working in concert with Red Bull Racing where it can but looking to achieve genuine results on track rather than being satisfied simply developing the next generation.
The rebrand is also a tenuous acknowledgement that the promotion of the Red Bull fashion brand AlphaTauri has not delivered results and further highlights the team’s repositioning within Red Bull’s priorities, with the squad having to secure commercial backing.
A double-barrelled commercial name has been touted for some time, with Visa and CashApp being long-rumoured partners.
Therefore, the domain name registration can be taken as further evidence of the pending rebranding of AlphaTauri RB to Racing Bulls.
Exactly when that will occur remains unknown, though it is predicted to occur as part of its season launch – the date of which is unknown with the Italian squad one of just two teams yet to confirm its launch plans.
