F1 News: Red flags waved as AlphaTauri snuggles up to Red Bull

(GMM) AlphaTauri’s rapid late-season performance surge is raising red flags with rival Formula 1 teams, who worry they are too close to Red Bull.

Ahead of a full team rebranding for 2024, including new bosses Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies, Red Bull’s second F1 team suddenly began to speed up some races ago.

At his final race as long-time team boss, Franz Tost said early in Abu Dhabi: “I hope the floor works. That’s the only thing that’s interesting for me – the new floor and diffuser.”

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 24, 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Whispers around the paddock suggest that team owner Red Bull’s goal – to rev up ‘synergies’ between its two F1 teams – is now resulting in a flow of very effective upgrades to AlphaTauri.

“They are the star in the slow corners now,” emphasized McLaren team boss Andrea Stella.

So far, any concerns rivals may have about a new and closer relationship between Red Bull Racing and Faenza-based Alpha Tauri are being kept publicly quiet.

But Tost says he’s certainly experienced the same sort of issue before.

“Didi Mateschitz said to me in 2005, ‘Franz, you’re going to go to Italy to build this thing’,” he told Kronen Zeitung newspaper.

“The philosophy was clear – use the synergies of Red Bull Technology and promote young drivers who then go to Red Bull Racing and win races and championships. And we were good at that – maybe too good.

“Because when we won at Monza with Sebastian Vettel in 2008, the teams got excited and demanded that we build our own car. And of course that was a huge challenge because we didn’t have the infrastructure,” he added.