AlphaTauri confirm team will not be sold by Red Bull, rumours ‘have no foundation’
AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries on track for testing in Bahrain.
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has released a statement confirming the team will not be sold, after meetings with Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff.
Rumours had been circulating about the future of the team after an underwhelming season saw Red Bull’s sister team drop from sixth to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko had told Sky Deutschland that he would leave discussions to the future of AlphaTauri to Red Bull shareholders, and Tost confirmed the team will not be sold by its current owners.
AlphaTauri team principal Tost said in a statement on Wednesday: “I had some very good meetings with Oliver Mintzlaff, who confirmed that the shareholders will not sell Scuderia AlphaTauri, and that Red Bull will continue supporting the team in the future.
“All these rumours have no foundation, and the team has to remain focused for the start of the season to perform better than last year.”
A previous report from Auto Motor und Sport in Germany had claimed over the weekend that three potential buyers had shown interest in purchasing the Faenza-based team, with Andretti Autosport, Hitech GP and Mumbai Racing all reportedly looking to find a way onto the Formula 1 grid by purchasing an existing team.
But the talks between Tost and Red Bull’s managing director have now quashed speculation surrounding the future of AlphaTauri and Red Bull’s ongoing support of the project.
PlanetF1.com recommends
Can Fernando Alonso crash the ‘Big Three’ party at the Bahrain Grand Prix?
When Chelsea, Leeds and Tottenham signed up for the failed Premier 1 series
F1 2023 predictions: Title winners, team-mate battles, driver moves and much more
The team was founded as Toro Rosso back in 2005 after Red Bull completed the purchase of Minardi, under the pretense of acting as a ‘junior’ team to Red Bull, for their young drivers to hone their craft before moving up to the senior team.
Both Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel have become multiple World Champions after following this pathway and a host of drivers have been introduced to Formula 1 through Red Bull’s junior programme, but the team broke away from their long-standing tradition of using drivers from their own junior stable when Sergio Perez was brought in to partner Verstappen at Red Bull in 2021, with former Mercedes reserve Nyck de Vries set to partner Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri this season.
