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Red Bull will alter the name of its second Formula 1 team in 2025, admitting it was “rushing a couple of things” when initially revealing the Visa Cash App RB name.
Red Bull came under heavy criticism for transforming the identity of AlphaTauri - originally Toro Rosso from 2006-2019 - into Visa Cash App RB from 2024.
Many outlets including The Race have simply referred to the team as ‘RB’ over the season with others using ‘Racing Bulls’, the company name but according to Red Bull, it isn’t what the ‘RB’ in the 2024 name has been referring to.
RB CEO Peter Bayer admits it’s been confusing for fans to know what the team is called, so the name will change from Visa Cash App RB to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls for 2025.
“We’ve been struggling to a certain extent with making it clear to people what the team name is, and seen so many versions,” Bayer said when asked by The Race.
“In January, it all happened within weeks, and we’ve been probably rushing a couple of things. What we see ultimately is that people are referring to us as Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. And Racing Bulls anyway is our company name. And certainly, I’ve seen it in the German, Austrian, Italian, French media being used mostly actually.
“People struggling with the RB thing alone, because some of them mixed it up with Red Bull. Others didn’t really know what it stands for.
“So that’s why we decided to clarify that, and basically what you will see in the future is Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, and VCARB as an abbreviation.”
It’s hardly a brand-new name but it does eliminate the ambiguity of ‘what does the RB stand for?’.
Team boss Laurent Mekies feels like this era of Red Bull’s second team - which included Mekies leaving Ferrari to head up the race team - effectively represents a new team.
“If we go back to January when we first bumped into each other in these offices, there is still no name, no partner signed, no identity,” Mekies explained.
“It’s the very beginning of the adventure. So, of course, the team has been there for many years, but we were certainly extremely conscious of the step change that was requested and to fast forward 10 months or 11 months, and we are now here. The team exists. We have crazy good partners that join the adventure.
“The identity is building up. And as a team, we feel like a new team is born. We have been able to build on the talents we had at the factory. We have been able to attract a number of senior people that probably this team has never been able to attract in the past.
“And that’s credit to the ownerships who have given us this long term vision and this project. We really had this parallel feeling all year long, building the stronger foundations, so getting the right people, changing the structure, changing the process, changing the flows.
“And in the meantime, you go racing every two weeks. And we sort of enjoy the fight we were thrown in straight away. So in a nutshell, many highs, many lows, but overall, a positive year.”
