Bayer: AlphaTauri will move closer to the Red Bull family

AlphaTauri has gone through numerous changes over the course of their F1 history, starting as Minardi in 1985, and then sold to Red Bull in 2006, who rebranded them into Toro Rosso.

Toro Rosso became a junior Red Bull team where all their junior drivers were sent to be prepared before being promoted into the senior team, that is if they were found up to the tough standards set by driver program boss Dr. Helmut Marko.

In 2020, Toro Rosso was rebranded once again into AlphaTauri named after Red Bull's fashion brand, and while Marko said the team will become a sister team rather than a junior team for Red Bull Racing, the Faenza squad did not deliver much success.

In 2023 the team has been undergoing a raft of changes, with long-serving boss Franz Tost stepping down at the end of 2023 to take on a consultant role in 2024, with Laurent Mekies hired from Ferrari to replace him while former FIA man Peter Bayer taking on the role of CEO.

With reports about another major rebranding for AlphaTauri in 2024, even Hugo Boss rumored to be their new Title Sponsor, Bayer was asked about the changes to the team over the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.

He commented: "Discussions are going very well, unfortunately I cannot disclose yet what the name will be. The shareholders have decided on the identity of the team, we will move a bit closer to the Red Bull family.

"It’s an exciting period to see the birth of a Formula 1 team, it’s a unique experience, I’m very happy to live through that," he added.

The new AlphaTauri CEO was asked about the experience of working with outgoing team boss Tost, he said: "Franz is an incredible mentor, and he has so much experience that in any situation he will have advice and he was extremely supportive with me.

"I spent so much time with him that sometimes I said to him the other day ‘I hope I actually don’t annoy you because I’m spending all this time with you’, and he said ‘no, no, no I want you and the team to succeed, and I want to make sure that I pass everything on to you that I know’," he revealed.

Tost has overseen the development of many F1 talents over the course of the years, some becoming World Champions - Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen - while others have enjoyed successful careers such as Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo.

Bayer hailed the Austrian for the work he does with drivers, he said: "I think Franz is a genius when it comes to drivers and to understand where they are mentally, physically, and he keeps telling me that we have to make sure that the drivers are on top of their game when it comes to physical preparation.

"But we also need to make sure that when they step up from Formula 2 to Formula 1, they need a lot of support, they need a lot of preparation for that, physically, mentally, simulator driving, [it's] very, very important.

"Previous car testing is a very important element, so you need to invest into them otherwise they could come into Formula 1, and it may be very challenging for them," Bayer maintained.

AlphaTauri had Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo confirmed for the 2024 F1 season, as the latter is still recovering from a broken hand following a crash in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson has been filling in for Ricciardo who is expected to make a return at the upcoming race in Austin if the team's plan comes together.