Team

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team

VCA
Formula 1Series
87Points
5Position
2026Season

From Minardi’s legacy to Red Bull’s talent factory: Racing Bulls has forged a new identity out of Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri.

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Racing Bulls’ roots trace back to 1985, when the Italian team was founded as Minardi in Faenza. For almost two decades the team fought with modest resources against Formula One’s established powers, before being acquired by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH at the end of 2005. For the 2006 season, the outfit entered as Scuderia Toro Rosso, with Austrian Franz Tost as team principal, guiding its fortunes for almost two decades.

Few teams in Formula One have changed their name as often as this one. After 13 years as Toro Rosso, the team was rebranded as Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2020, named after Red Bull’s own fashion and lifestyle brand, which never quite found the resonance hoped for. Since 2024 the team has competed as Racing Bulls, with a clear mission: developing Red Bull’s young talent from its own junior programme on their path to the senior team.

On track the team has mostly remained in the midfield, though there have been memorable moments. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel claimed the team’s first win at Monza, at just 21 years old the youngest Grand Prix winner in history at the time. Twelve years later, again at Monza, Pierre Gasly celebrated an emotional second victory in 2020. The team’s best championship result has repeatedly been sixth in the constructors’ standings, most recently in 2025. Above all, the team has built its reputation as a talent factory: Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen, Gasly, Alexander Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar all passed through Faenza, with many of them going on to graduate to Red Bull Racing.

Racing Bulls enters the 2026 season under team principal Alan Permane, who succeeded Laurent Mekies in summer 2025, alongside CEO Peter Bayer. Behind the wheel are Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad. Technically the season marks a major shift: after eight years with Honda power, the team switches to Red Bull Ford Powertrains and races with the new VCARB 03. The team remains based in Faenza, complemented by a new UK site in Milton Keynes, closer to its sister team.