VCARB CEO reveals the meaning behind the ‘RB’ in the team’s new name

Announcing Red Bull’s junior team would be called ‘Visa Cash App RB’ for the 2024 F1 season, pundits and fans were confused by the team’s new name.

Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde derided it as a name that “isn’t an appropriate name for a Formula One team” while Jenson Button was just perplexed.

“Visa Cash App… what comes after that? So it is Visa. Cash App. RB. What?” the 2009 World Champ told the Associated Press when asked for his thoughts.

‘It fits well into the family, and the RB really stands for…’

The name was almost instantly abbreviated to VCARB which had social media joking it sounded like a “hack diet” or a “supplement”, but others were more interested in the ‘RB’.

Red Bull’s junior team, it was suggested that’s what the ‘RB’ could stand for while others surmised it was ‘Racing Bulls’, the name many thought the team would be called before the Visa Cash App confirmation.

VCARB CEO Peter Bayer has now confirmed the ‘RB’ “really stands” for ‘Red Bull’.

Speaking to RacingNews365, he explained: “The head of sponsorship at Visa, Andrea [Fairchild], said in an interview that it is a bit of a mouthful, but the reality is that we said from the outset last year that we will move closer to the Red Bull family.

“We wanted to bring the bull and the RB back, and within the Red Bull family, there are the Flying Bulls, which is the plane collection Mr Mateschitz had, those are the Flying Bulls.

“And then somebody in the company said: ‘Why don’t we call these guys the Racing Bulls, so they have an identity on which they can build on when sponsors will change?’

“We had to change everything, the company name and every single bit in the company including the tax office, so it was quite an effort.

“It fits well into the family, and the RB really stands for Red Bull, and then it was a great problem to have because Visa is one of the biggest brands in the world, and Cash App is one of the most spectacular brands in the financial world, especially in the US – and both wanted to partner with us.”

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But while social media may not be a fan of the name, Bayer accepts the most important thing for the team is making sure they have a “fast car” to go along with it.

He added: “We were like: ‘Okay, well, Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 Team’ and I don’t hear a lot of people calling Aston Martin, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team, I don’t hear people talking about Moneygram Haas Formula 1 Team, so we just have to be realistic and focus on the content – and that is a really beautiful and fast car.”

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