Visa Cash App RB F1 team launched the VCARB 01 on Feb. 9 in a Las Vegas showcase featuring performances by Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem. Having taken the name of their biggest sponsor, the team formerly known as Scuderia AlphaTauri has entered a new phase in their journey to becoming a competitive team. They are owned by Red Bull but operate separately from Oracle Red Bull Racing. As the junior Red Bull-owned team, VCARB is often treated as a training team for future Red Bull Racing drivers, as it was for world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
The VCARB 01 is a colorful spectacle, painted an eye-catching metallic blue with red, black, and blue highlights. Visa is painted silver on the sidepod, accompanied by an equally silver Red Bull logo on the engine cover, making it a bright blend of colors that brings a spot of paint to a grid currently suffering from an abundance of exposed black carbon fiber.
Following championship-winning team Red Bull’s example, the team has swapped their pushrod front suspension from last season for a pullrod suspension, among other changes. The rear suspension system is pushrod, as per Red Bull’s design. The sidepods appear to be the same as on their 2023 car, but the version of the vehicle shown at the launch is not the finished product– that one will not be revealed until pre-season testing in Bahrain, which starts on Feb. 21.
AlphaTauri had a difficult 2023 season, ending eight in the Constructors Standings, with four drivers racing for them and none of them bringing spectacular results. Rookie Nyck de Vries was fired mid-season and replaced with Red Bull reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo, who then broke his hand and had to be replaced with another reserve driver, Liam Lawson, for multiple races, Ricciardo, an experienced driver with over a decade in the sport, finished the season P17, having only competed in seven of twenty-two races. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, who is entering his fourth year in F1 in 2024, ended P14, with neither driver scoring any podiums.
With a new name and a new team principal, Laurent Mekies, the team is eager to improve their results. Ricciardo, whose first season in F1 in 2011 was for VCARB– known back then as Toro Rosso –is particularly interested in showcasing his skills after being fired from McLaren Racing in 2022. With Red Bull’s second driver seat as of now open for the taking at the end of 2024, both drivers will be determined to give their best and be considered for an upgrade to the top team.
