SCUDERIA ALPHATAURI DEBUTS

Scuderia AlphaTauri debuts – Photo: Red Bull

Red Bull’s junior Formula 1 team, which has officially changed its name from Toro Rosso to Scuderia AlphaTauri, revealed its 2020 car at a launch in Salzburg, Austria.

By DAN KNUTSON

The team founded by Giancarlo Minardi in 1985 had been known as Toro Rosso ever since Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz bought the squad, still called Minardi, from Australian businessman Paul Stoddart in 2005.

It now assumes the name of Red Bull’s premium fashion clothing brand AlphaTauri, which takes its name from the Alpha Tauri multiple star system in Federation space 65 light-years from earth.

The 2020 AlphaTauri, called the AT01, carries a new white and blue livery that replaces the dark blue, red and yellow traditional Red Bull colours that the car carried under the Toro Rosso name.

The new look was revealed at Red Bull’s Hangar 7 facility in Salzburg by the team’s drivers Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly.

“There’s the end of the story of Toro Rosso for sure, which is quite emotional for me because they gave me my first opportunity in Formula 1,” Gasly said. “But there’s a new chapter coming with Scuderia AlphaTauri. I like fashion as well, so for me it’s great to be combining a fashion brand with Formula 1. I think it’s a great adventure that is starting now and I’m really excited to get started properly on track and take the brand to another level.”

Kvyat commented: “Last year was really competitive for us in terms of team performance, and we will try to do something similar this year. I think we have a very strong baseline and we’re going to try to do as many of those strong races that we had last year. We’re going to try and repeat them more and more often. It should bring us good results like this and I really hope it’s going to work out.”

While the colours and image have changed, the Italian-based team, which last year earned its first and only podium finishes since Sebastian Vettel won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, remains the same.

Kvyat and Gasly will shake the new car down at the Misano track in Italy before heading to official pre-season testing in Barcelona.

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