Crackdown on Max Verstappen & Co. Fails to Impress Fans as Lethargic Attitude Allows 7 More Years of Shady Business

For almost as long as Red Bull has been in Formula 1, it’s had a subsidiary in the sport—a B-team. What started as Toro Rosso—the team that gave Max Verstappen his break in F1—became AlphaTauri in 2020. Toro Rosso, which is literally Italian for ‘Red Bull,’ was a team the Austrian outfit used to give its junior drivers a chance to compete in the sport, to see if they were ready for the works team. It worked for Verstappen, it worked for Daniel Ricciardo, and Red Bull is still using the team to shape drivers. In a limited field of 10 constructors, doesn’t one team owning two of them sound unfair?

Well, that’s what everyone apart from Red Bull management thinks. After Toro Rosso’s rebrand to AlphaTauri, the Faenza-based outfit wanted to become more independent. That’s what its main goal was, to succeed in F1 without Red Bull’s help. That was initially the plan, but recently, Red Bull announced that the AlphaTauri collaboration will get stronger in 2024. Much like the Ferrari-powered Haas has offices in Maranello, AphaTauri will shift its base to Milton-Keynes. So much for becoming independent. But this has come under threat recently.

As per a tweet by @f1_niaja, “Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s close collaboration might be banned by 2030, as reported by F1 journalist Joe Saward. This could impact their joint efforts, including AlphaTauri’s move to Milton Keynes. The 2030 Concorde Agreement may restrict such partnerships to promote autonomy among F1 teams. Stay tuned for updates.” The Concorde Agreement—a contract between the FIA, F1, and the 10 teams—lays down the competition rules. 

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While the current agreement will last till 2025, this crackdown on Verstappen & Co. might only be implemented in 2030. That gives the two teams seven more years to collaborate and succeed. Needless to say, despite F1’s inclination, fans weren’t too pleased to hear the announcement.

Max Verstappen & Co.’s “collaboration of cheating” is a “disgrace”

In F1, teams can buy parts from their rivals, but only to a certain extent. It’s like McLaren gets its engine from Mercedes. Everything else is theirs. From 2024, AlphaTauri (which won’t be its name from next year) will get as close to a Red Bull clone as it can. With 2030 still seven years away, that would give both teams enough time to benefit from the collaboration before it has to shut down. That’s seven years too many for fans.

Considering what Red Bull is doing with just two cars now (well, technically just Verstappen’s in 2023), imagine what it could do with practically four cars on the grid.

Wreak havoc it will. With seven years in hand, there’s no way that that’ll no longer be a collaboration, but a collusion.

It’s not like Red Bull is hiding what it’s doing. The collusion is blatant. Why isn’t F1 doing anything about it sooner?

Better yet, why was Toro Rosso’s entry even allowed into F1? Why did F1 allow Red Bull to have complete ownership over two teams in the first place?

Some think 2024’s efforts have already started. Daniel Ricciardo had a stellar weekend in Mexico last weekend where he qualified in P4 alongside Max Verstappen. In an AlphaTauri. Considering the AT04 was one one the slowest cars on the grid, how did the Aussie pull off a P4 in qualifying and finish in P7?

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What’s your take on the situation? Are you just as furious about the seven-year wait to stop Max Verstappen & Co. from finding loopholes?