The Toro Rosso name may disappear for 2020, with the Red Bull junior team likely to be renamed ‘Alpha Tauri’ if the other teams on the grid agree to the change.
The rumoured name change for the Toro Rosso team for 2020 has been approved by the F1 commission. The team is set to be renamed Alpha Tauri, after a clothing brand owned by Red Bull in an effort to boost the visibility of their fledgling offshoot.
According to the Alpha Tauri website, “the brand is named in honour of the AlphaTauri star – the brightest, most radiant and energy-rich star in the constellation of Taurus (the Bull). It refers to the energy that inspires the brand AlphaTauri, and the star’s placement directly on the Bull’s eye aligns with the brand’s focus on precision and perfection.”
“Powered by the spirit of innovation and driven by purpose, AlphaTauri was founded by Red Bull with a desire to focus on unique engineering and innovative fashion technologies that add value to both body and mind.”
Toro Rosso has been in Formula 1 since 2006, serving as a junior/B-team for the Red Bull team. Owned by the Red Bull company but technically a separate entity to the Red Bull Racing squad, Toro Rosso took over the Minardi team and factory at the end of 2005. Maintaining their Italian links, Toro Rosso is Italian for ‘Red Bull’.
However, this name is largely irrelevant as a marketing exercise to Red Bull, meaning they have sought a change to Alpha Tauri. Toro Rosso have confirmed to FormulaSpy that this change was approved by the F1 commission in the week after the Russian Grand Prix and now awaits formal sign-off.
The name is likely to cause some confusion if it goes ahead, particularly phonetically, due to the presence of the Alfa Romeo team on the grid – also a recent rename as they were known as Sauber until the end of last season.
Parent company Red Bull, through RBR’s 2018 financial statements, have said that they require F1 to continue to be attractive in terms of marketing their brands in order to remain relevant to their continued interest and participation within Formula 1.
