Following the confirmation of Red Bull’s Alpha Tauri team’s new official moniker on Wednesday, both fans and the media responded with shock and laughter.
There were rumours that the “Racing Bulls” moniker—possibly abbreviated to “RB”—would be coupled with the arrival of sponsors Visa and Cash App.
However, Wednesday’s release included no mention of “Racing Bulls,” even though racingbulls.com leads to the official website of Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team, which was once also known as Toro Rosso.
“Visa Cash App RB accelerates towards the future,” said the press release.
“I’m sorry—what?!” said Michel Milewski, a journalist for the prominent German tabloid Bild.
The new name is “horrible,” according to Ilari Savonen of the Finnish network MTV, and even the German news agency DPA acknowledged that it is “rather unusual.”
While Spanish sports daily Marca believes that Visa Cash App RB is the “ugliest name in F1 history,” El Mundo Deportivo called it a “shocking name.”
Daniele Sparisci, the F1 journalist for Corriere della Sera, an Italian publication that publishes articles about the Red Bull-owned team, stated, “Goodbye, Alpha Tauri.”
“The new name of the Faenza team is a credit card,” he said.
Former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde echoed the view expressed in Sky Deutschland’s title, “Formula 1 team gets a strange new name,” on social media.
The Dutchman said, “We’re getting used to F1 being commercialised, as it should.” “I’m all in for business prospects, then.
However, this name simply seems inappropriate for a club with an Italian background. Perhaps they will show me incorrectly, but I don’t think we will be discussing that amazing group known as Visa Cash App RB in the near future.”
Tobias Gruner of Auto Motor und Sport reports that Red Bull even had to spend some time persuading Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One, to approve the new moniker.
“It will be interesting to see whether the name, which takes some getting used to, will catch on among TV commentators and written media,” he said.
The German magazine contacted Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s chief advisor, to conduct an interview. The 80-year-old acknowledges that the moniker is “a little tongue twister.”.
Meanwhile, reports on social media indicate that insiders at the team located in Faenza are already referring to Visa Cash App RB by its acronym, “V-CARB.”.
