Christian Horner rules out AlphaTauri following the pink Mercedes path as he claims they will get ‘only permitted transferrable parts’

Christian Horner recalled the 'pink Mercedes' situation of 2019 and claimed that AlphaTauri won't follow the same path as Racing Point to completely copy Red Bull.

Christian Horner rules out AlphaTauri following the pink Mercedes path as he claims they will get ‘only permitted transferrable parts’

Soon after the end of the Formula 1 2023 season, major changes to Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri are slated to take place. A rebranding of the Faenza team will be happening, followed by a change in the top roles of the team. But some followers are expecting there will be alterations in AlphaTauri’s race car next year as well. They might copy the RB-19’s blueprint to make a similar machine. But RBR Chief Christian Horner has rejected those speculations.

After a season of sheer dominance thanks to the RB-19, Christian Horner coined 2023 as the most successful car in Formula 1. Following this, the Boss addressed the fans’ speculations that AlphaTauri would follow Red Bull to make a car that emulates RB-19’s speed in 2024. He recalled the season of 2019 when the Racing Point team [which later got rebranded into Aston Martin] created a car that was a replica of the Mercedes W-10 in that season.

Questions arose about the similarity of the two teams after the major changes. However, Horner responded humorously to these questions. He claimed that the new car for AlphaTauri wouldn’t be a ‘Pink Mercedes’ [recalling the Racing Point’s resemblance] and further added that the sister team will only receive the allowed transferrable parts.

We are far from arriving at the pink Mercedes, They only get the allowed transferable parts,

Horner said, as reported by motorsport.com (H&T: f1maximaal.nl).

The Briton boss was not hesitant in acknowledging the fact that many cars on the grids had a somewhat resemblance to the dominant RB19. However, he also added that the fundamental things in the AlphaTauri’s car would be different. Further, he exclaimed that the rear suspension of McLaren’s MCL60 was similar to the Red Bull’s dominant RB19.

When you look at the car, you see that there are fundamental things different. On the grid there are probably more cars that are much more similar in concept to ours than the AT04. If you go to the Aston Martin or the McLaren looks... The rear suspension of the MCL60 is in line with our concept.

What are the changes to be made to AlphaTauri for the next season?

Horner’s comments about the lack of resemblance between the two cars prompted the announcement of multiple significant changes for the sister team. The next season will see Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer replacing the former team principal, Franz Tost. Tost would leave AlphaTauri after an almost 18-year stint with the team.

Franz Tost.
Franz Tost (via The Independent)

The team is also reportedly getting a new name and logo for the following year as the team does not want to include the name of it’s sponsors in the name. Rumors claim that the team would be called ‘Racing Bulls’ for the following season much like Toro-Rosso where the name of the sponsors was not included. However, no official statement has been released for the renaming of the team.

The team had a mediocre performance in this season after the rookie Nyck De Vries failed to perform well at the top level of racing. Despite the replacement with the more experienced driver Daniel Ricciardo, the team still encountered issues during the season. Hence, after the big changes, the team hopes for a better result in the next season as Christian Horner also showers his confidence for the team to perform well.

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