Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has revealed that any decision on the future of sister team AlphaTauri will be made “entirely” by the “shareholders” only, following a report by Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS) that suggested that the Faenza-based team could be sold.
The German publication reported that Red Bull had been evaluating whether they could save money by moving AlphaTauri to the United Kingdom, given that the main side is based in Milton Keynes.
AMuS’ report goes on to suggest that if a potential move to the UK for AlphaTauri wouldn’t reduce costs for Red Bull or be even possible, then the sister side could be sold.
AlphaTauri did, of course, perform well below par in 2022, with the outfit having slumped to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
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Their performance last season couldn’t have been any more different to Red Bull, who dominated the season with 17 victories.
Marko was actually asked about the report by Sky Germany on Saturday in Bahrain, where the Austrian admitted that the team “don’t comment on rumours”, suggesting that AMuS’ report isn’t true.
“In general, we don’t comment on rumours,” Marko said.
“It’s understandable that AlphaTauri can’t be satisfied with what it achieved last year – ninth place in the constructors’ championship. But such a decision is entirely up to the shareholders. These are rumours that we do not comment on in detail.”
Whilst Marko refused to comment on whether AlphaTauri were potentially going to be sold, he did admit that the company were investigating how they could make better use of their sister side.
“You think about how you can increase efficiency,” he said.
“If you have a team that wins the world championship and the other one is only around ninth place, the synergies don’t seem to work properly.
“The overall result is not satisfactory. As proper business people, our shareholders will make the right decision.”
Should AlphaTauri be sold, then it’d mark the end of what has been a very successful relationship since the Austrians rebranded the side in 2006, given that the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were brought into F1 through the team.
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Marko recognises the history between Red Bull and AlphaTauri (known originally as Toro Rosso), but that the sister side not delivering strong results “doesn’t help”.
“It is part of our philosophy,” said Marko.
“Vettel and Verstappen all came to us through AlphaTauri. But if the team doesn’t perform properly, it doesn’t help.”