Red Bull has confirmed that the AlphaTauri Formula 1 team will be changing its name to ‘Visa Cash App RB’, with a launch event scheduled on February 8th in Las Vegas to unveil the new branding.
Following Red Bull’s decision to drop its AlphaTauri branding from its sister outfit, due to the clothing line’s lack of marketing success, there was speculation that the Faenza squad would identify simply as ‘Racing Bulls’.
However, Red Bull’s new multi-year sponsorship deal with credit card giant Visa has justified the switch to the new identity.
This is the first time that Visa will be a global sponsor for both Red Bull-owned teams. They will also be sponsors of the RB20 cars driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, as well as the F1 Academy entries for both outfits.
Visa's new sponsorship deal with the AlphaTauri team is their first major new deal in 15 years. Cash App, on the other hand, has been involved with Red Bull since 2021.
“This is a groundbreaking partnership, and a great opportunity for the Visa brand to engage one of the fastest-growing sports communities on the planet,” said Frank Cooper III, Chief Marketing Officer, Visa.
“This alliance resonates strongly with Visa’s vision to inspire individuals to ‘make it,’ striving to take small steps for improvement each day, during every race or event.”
Wednesday’s announcement only included the new name, title sponsors, and logo. The Las Vegas event next month will feature the unveiling of the car livery and the overalls to be worn by Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.
“It’s fantastic to reveal the new identity and to welcome new partners as we embark on the next phase of the team’s Formula 1 story,” said Peter Bayer, Chief Executive Officer of the newly named Visa Cash App RB team.
“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.
“We have a bold vision for the team led by myself and Team Principal, Laurent Mekies and having future-focused partners such as Visa and Cash App alongside us on that journey is hugely exciting.”
It will be interesting to see how commentators and media members adapt to the new name and whether they find creative ways to abbreviate it or shorten it during broadcasts and reporting.
In its long form, commentators may have to start practicing their tongue gymnastics to avoid stumbling over the team's moniker during hectic moments of a race.
For the time being, we’ll limit ourselves to VCARB.
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