F1 Rumour: AlphaTauri To Use Red Bull RB19 Next Season
David Croft, the well-known voice of Formula 1 on Sky Sports, has sparked a conversation around the future of AlphaTauri in F1, especially the prospect of adopting the current winning vehicle of their sister team, Red Bull, next year.
Red Bull's formidable RB19, successfully piloted by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, has left competitors in the dust in all of the season's 12 races to date. Its dominance is already etching itself into the annals of F1 history. But, while the Milton Keynes car is becoming one of the most successful ever, sister team AlphaTauri is struggling.
It's currently sat at the very bottom of the Constructor Standings with only three points to its name thanks to Yuki Tsunoda. And now with two talented drivers willing to reach the top of the grid with Daniel Ricciardo joining recently, they're simply waiting for a faster car.
Well, this could be in the future of the team, according to Croft.
“Yuki Tsunoda is driving okay, he scored all their points this year. Nyck de Vries didn’t work but I would’ve liked to have seen him given a bit more time. I understand the reasons why they explained they got rid of him.
“Daniel Ricciardo has come in as a motivation, not just for Yuki, but for Checo [Perez] as well. And that seems to have worked in the last couple of races too.”
He continued:
“But does Daniel Ricciardo want to be racing for AlphaTauri next year? Potentially, if the AlphaTauri is a much better car”, he questioned. “There are lots of reports that the plan is under whatever name they’re going to be, maybe Toro Rosso once again, that they run this year’s Red Bull next year.
“Which has happened before, Super Aguri ran a year-old Honda for instance. It would definitely work for AlphaTauri, but that’s just the paddock rumour.”
Haas, a satellite team of Ferrari, buys what the Scuderia has left over. And this has given them a leg-up into the sport with minimal funding. And while they're still lagging behind currently in 8th place, they've shown a good level of performance in the past. Plus, Racing Point did this with the Mercedes W10 in 2020, finishing P4 that year with a race win.
If AlphaTauri, or whatever they choose to brand themselves as next year, uses the RB19 for 2024, they could well be towards the top of the grid if you look at the performance it has shown us so far this year.
I'd personally love to see both Tsunoda and Ricciardo with cars reflective of their skill behind the wheel. And with this allowing the team to focus their efforts on further development, it could bode well for the Faenza squad.