The growth of Formula 1 has made the sport very attractive to many companies in recent seasons, with many teams attempting to join the current grid.
As Andretti-Cadillac have discovered, joining the grid as an 11th team is not only very difficult, it is also very expensive due to the anti-dilution fees that a new entrant has to pay.
This has made it a much more appealing option for companies to try to take over an exisiting Formula 1 team, following the example of Audi who will complete their takeover of Sauber in 2026 to join the grid.
It had been rumoured in recent weeks that Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri could be for sale, as the energy drink giants look to streamline their operations following the tragic passing of their founder, Dietrich Mateschitz.
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AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has quickly put these rumours to bed, claiming that he has spoken to new Red Bull chief Oliver Mintzlaff to confirm the future of his team.
“I had some very good meetings with Oliver Mintzlaff, who confirmed that the shareholders will not sell AlphaTauri, and that Red Bull will continue supporting the team in the future,” said Tost.
“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.”
Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has suspicions as to where these rumours came from, suggesting that they stemmed from a conversation that he had with a journalist.
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“A journalist came to me and actually we just talked about which new manufacturers and investors could be interested in Formula 1,” explained the Austrian.
“In this context, I never said that AlphaTauri was for sale, only how the efficiency of our second team could be increased. It’s no secret that no one can be satisfied with ninth place in the constructors’ championship.”
If pre-season testing results are anything to go by, AlphaTauri could be in for another difficult season this year, as their main rivals such as Aston Martin have improved drastically compared to them.