Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has insisted that plenty of changes will be taking place at AlphaTauri next season, with the Austrians wanting to improve the performance of their sister team.
Considering Red Bull and AlphaTauri are owned by the same company, their difference in performance is quite staggering.
Whilst Red Bull are galloping to a second consecutive Constructors’ Championship on 540 points, courtesy of winning every race this season, AlphaTauri sit at the bottom of the standings on an embarrassing three points.
Unless things suddenly change for the better at the Faenza-based team, they are set for their worst ever finish in the championship.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
This hasn’t pleased Red Bull, who are doing all they can to get their sister team back into the midfield next season.
One idea which was on the cards was to move AlphaTauri from Italy to the United Kingdom, so that they could be closer to the main team.
However, that looks set to not be an option anymore, although Red Bull are clear that they want AlphaTauri to revert to copying as many pieces of Red Bull’s as legally possible, rather than going in their own direction.
Marko revealed that some of AlphaTauri’s engineers believed that they didn’t need Red Bull’s designs to be successful, something which has proven to be incorrect.
As a result, the side is being “restructured”.
“There were always differences between Italy and England,” Marko told the Young Economist.
“AlphaTauri sometimes had designers who believed if they had the financial means of Red Bull, they would actually be better.
“This conflict smouldered throughout this cooperation. That’s why it’s now being restructured.”
Part of the restructuring will see team principal Franz Tost step down after 17 years leading the side, with ex-Ferrari race director Laurent Mekies to take charge in 2024, alongside new CEO Peter Bayer.
The team are also going to be rebranded, with Hugo Boss supposedly leading the race to be the team’s title-sponsor.
READ: Haas highlights team unity after confirming 2024 driver line-up
It’s all part of Red Bull’s plan to rebuild their sister team and to regain some control over them, as Marko has insisted that AlphaTauri will carry out “no more in-house constructions”.
“There is a very clear instruction,” Marko said. “Everything that is permitted by the regulations must be adapted by AlphaTauri.
“No more in-house constructions, no more peculiarities in Faenza. The synergies are to be used as best as possible.”