RB Formula One Team

(Redirected from VCARB)

Racing Bulls S.p.A., competing as Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (shortened to RB[10] or VCARB), is an Italian Formula One racing team and constructor that is competing since the 2024 season. It is one of two Formula One constructors owned by Austrian conglomerate Red Bull GmbH, the other being Red Bull Racing. Known as Scuderia Toro Rosso from 2006 to 2019 and Scuderia AlphaTauri from 2020 to 2023, the team was rebranded to its current name for the 2024 season, during which it was known as RB,[11] and then switching to using its full name (Racing Bulls) starting in the 2025 season.[12][13] The current CEO is Peter Bayer, and the team principal is Laurent Mekies. At the start of the 2024 season, the team retained incumbent drivers Daniel Ricciardo[a] and Yuki Tsunoda from when it was known as AlphaTauri; Ricciardo was dropped after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix and was replaced with Red Bull junior and reserve driver Liam Lawson.[b] Lawson was promoted to the main Red Bull team for 2025, with Formula 2 graduate Isack Hadjar taking his place at RB.

Italy Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT
Full nameVisa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team[1]
BaseFaenza, Italy
Team principal(s)Peter Bayer[2]
(Chief Executive Officer)
Laurent Mekies
(Team Principal)
Chief Technical OfficerTim Goss[3]
Technical directorJody Egginton[4]
Websitevisacashapprb.com
Previous nameScuderia AlphaTauri
2024 Formula One World Championship
Race drivers03. Australia Daniel Ricciardo
22. Japan Yuki Tsunoda
30. New Zealand Liam Lawson
Test driversJapan Ayumu Iwasa
ChassisVCARB 01
EngineHonda RBPTH002[5][6]
TyresPirelli
2025 Formula One World Championship
Race drivers06. France Isack Hadjar[7]
22. Japan Yuki Tsunoda[8]
ChassisVCARB 02[9]
EngineHonda RBPT
TyresPirelli
Formula One World Championship career
First entry2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last entry2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Races entered24 (24 starts)
EnginesHonda RBPT
Race victories0
Podiums0
Points46
Pole positions0
Fastest laps1
2024 position8th (46 pts)

Origins

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The team traces its roots to Minardi, which competed in Formula One from 1985 to 2005, before being bought by Red Bull in 2006 to become the junior team to Red Bull Racing. From 2006 to 2019, it competed as "Toro Rosso" and was known for housing future Red Bull talent, such as future four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, former Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr., and reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen. In addition, Toro Rosso had previously employed 2023–24 driver Daniel Ricciardo as part of its line-up in 2012 and 2013.[16][17]

For the 2020 Formula One World Championship, Toro Rosso was rebranded to "AlphaTauri" in order to promote Red Bull's AlphaTauri fashion brand.[18] According to Franz Tost and Helmut Marko, the rebrand to Scuderia AlphaTauri also acknowledged that it had transitioned from Red Bull Racing's junior team to its sister team.[19]

The team was rebranded to Visa Cash App RB F1 Team for the 2024 season,[20][21] shortened to the acronymised "VCARB".[22][23] The new name was widely criticised by fans and the media,[24][25][26][27] with Edd Straw of The Race calling it "the worst team name in Formula 1 history" and "an embarrassment to Red Bull and Formula 1 as a whole", arguing that the name "RB" lacks "personality, identity and ambition", could easily be confused with Red Bull Racing, and exists solely to force the sponsors to be mentioned more often.[28] For the 2025 season, the team was entered as "Racing Bulls", discontinuing the usage of the initialism.[29][30]

Racing history

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Works Honda RBPT engines (2024–2025)

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The RB VCARB 01 of Ricciardo at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix

RB entered the 2024 Formula One World Championship with drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.[22][31] The team continued using Honda RBPT power units, having used Honda-designed power units since the 2018 season when it was named Scuderia Toro Rosso.[32][33]

In the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, the team suffered a double retirement, caused by Haas's Kevin Magnussen crashing into Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo's rear being struck by Lance Stroll. Both drivers suffered major damage to their diffusers, with Ricciardo in particular being forced to retire a few laps later. Tsunoda suffered terminal rear-right damage and retired on the spot.[34][35] Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Ricciardo would leave the team and be replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remainder of the season.[36]

Ford-badged RBPT engines (2026 onwards)

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With its sister team Red Bull Racing switching to Red Bull Ford Powertrains power units, RB Formula One Team will also follow suit and switch to Red Bull Ford Powertrains from 2026 until at least 2030.[37]

Complete Formula One results

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Key
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Other points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (empty cell)
Annotation Meaning
P Pole position
F Fastest lap
Superscript
number
Points-scoring position
in sprint
Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Points WCC
2024 VCARB 01 Honda RBPTH002
1.6 V6 t[38]
P BHR SAU AUS JPN CHN MIA EMI MON CAN ESP AUT GBR HUN BEL NED ITA AZE SIN USA MXC SAP LVG QAT ABU 46 8th
  Daniel Ricciardo 13 16 12 Ret Ret 154 13 12 8 15 9 13 12 10 12 13 13 18F
  Liam Lawson 9 16 9 16 14 17†
  Yuki Tsunoda 14 15 7 10 Ret 78 10 8 14 19 14 10 9 16 17 Ret Ret 12 14 Ret 7 9 13 12
Source:

† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.


Notes

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  1. ^ Ricciardo had already replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri during the 2023 season.[14]
  2. ^ Lawson had already deputised for an injured Ricciardo during the 2023 season.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Whitfield, Harry (13 December 2024). "F1 2025 entry list confirms RB name change to Racing Bulls". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  2. ^ Cooper, Adam (24 August 2023). "Why new CEO Bayer brings a fresh approach to AlphaTauri". Autosport. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Visa Cash App RB F1 Team Strengthens Technical and Trackside Capability with Key Appointments" (PDF). VisaCashAppRB F1 Team. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Discover The Scuderia AlphaTauri Managers!". Scuderia AlphaTauri. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Red Bull agree deal to run Honda engine technology until 2025". Formula 1. 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  6. ^ Smith, Luke (3 July 2021). "Honda's Sakura facility will supply Red Bull F1 engines in 2022". Autosport. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Hadjar signs for RB as he takes final seat on 2025 F1 grid". Formula 1.com. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Tsunoda to stay as RB driver for 2025 with latest seat on the grid confirmed". Formula 1. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Hahnair to join Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 Team". Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team. Retrieved 16 December 2024. As from the start of the 2025 season, the Hahnair logo will feature on the VCARB-02 mirrors
  10. ^ "RB". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  11. ^ "AlphaTauri's new name for 2024 is confirmed". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  12. ^ Noble, Jonathan (2 November 2024). "What's really going on with RB's name change plans for F1 2025". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  13. ^ Collantine, Keith (13 December 2024). "Another name change for RB and new driver numbers revealed in 2025 F1 entry list". RaceFans. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Ricciardo to replace De Vries at AlphaTauri from Hungary". www.formula1.com. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  15. ^ Cleeren, Filip (25 August 2023). "Ricciardo out of F1 Dutch GP with injured hand, Lawson to sub". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Red Bull finalises Minardi deal". us.motorsport.com. 11 September 2005. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Top 10 Red Bull F1 drivers ranked: Vettel, Verstappen, Perez and more". www.autosport.com. 18 June 2023. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Toro Rosso's name change to AlphaTauri confirmed in provisional 2020 entry list". Formula 1. 30 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  19. ^ Delaney, Michael (16 February 2020). "Marko upgrades AlphaTauri from junior to sister bull team". F1i.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  20. ^ "2024 Bahrain Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 February 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  21. ^ "AlphaTauri's new name for 2024 is confirmed". Formula 1. 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  22. ^ a b Cooper, Adam (24 January 2024). "AlphaTauri F1 team makes switch to new Visa Cash App RB identity". us.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  23. ^ Fryer, Jenna (24 January 2024). "Visa enters F1 with Red Bull, rebrands AlphaTauri with wordy new team name". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  24. ^ Kisby, Cambridge (24 January 2024). "Why AlphaTauri's Visa Cash App RB rebrand is more than just a new name". Motor Sport Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Can you credit it? Visa Cash App RB may be the worst F1 team name of all time". The Guardian. 25 January 2024. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  26. ^ Collantine, Keith (24 January 2024). "Does 'Visa Cash App RB' signal a depressing new trend in F1 team names?". RaceFans. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  27. ^ "'This is horrendous': Ricciardo stuck with 'worst team name' as F1 secret to be unveiled". Fox Sports. 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  28. ^ "Visa Cash App RB is the worst name in F1 history". The Race. 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  29. ^ Noble, Jonathan (2 November 2024). "What's really going on with RB's name change plans for F1 2025". Motorsport. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  30. ^ Suttill, Josh; Mitchell-Malm, Scott (9 December 2024). "Why Red Bull's second F1 squad is fixing its 'rushed' team name". The Race. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  31. ^ "Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo with us in 2024". Formula 1. 23 September 2023. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Renault power for 2018 McLaren, Honda switch to Toro Rosso". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  33. ^ "Honda and Red Bull extend power unit support deal until 2025 | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Ricciardo: Stroll "making my blood boil" after China F1 contact". www.autosport.com. 21 April 2024. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Why Ricciardo, Stroll, Sargeant and Magnussen were penalised". www.formula1.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  36. ^ "Lawson to replace Ricciardo at RB for remainder of the season". Formula 1.com. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  37. ^ "Ford announces F1 return in 2026 with Red Bull". ESPN.com. 3 February 2023. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  38. ^ "Honda RBPTH002 | Formula 1". Honda.Racing. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.