RB ‘allergic’ to Red Bull junior team tag

RB CEO Peter Bayer has explained that being a "junior team" comes fourth on the Faenza squad's list of priorities in F1.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, the Austrian addressed the contention around the extent to which RB is solely a vehicle to support the ends of the main Red Bull team.

It has fulfilled that role over the years primarily through driver development, as an F1 training ground for young Red Bull drivers.

An off-season rebrand from AlphaTauri to Visa Cash App RB was intended to be the dawn of a new era for the energy drinks manufacturer's second team.

However, the media has pushed back against the new narrative, something Daniel Ricciardo being sidelined for Liam Lawson has done little to alleviate or alter the long-entrenched perception.

Outlining RB's list of priorities, Bayer explained that acting as a finishing school for the Red Bull young driver programme does not even feature in the top three responsibilities of the team.

"I'm almost allergic to 'junior team'," Bayer joked when the subject was broached. "But it's good to hear that and to discuss it.

"The whole junior team thing really comes from [having] different missions from the shareholders. It starts with being competitive on track. It continues with being successful commercially.

"To do both of those clearly measurable targets, they want us to add a certain cool and fun factor, which is [what] we do with the liveries and the music and the content and the people around us.

"But then there's a fourth one, which is develop young drivers. Meaning that we have the Red Bull pyramid, starting in karting, then coming up through F4, F3 and F2. We've got an amazing lot of talent coming up and and they want to have a seat."

Adopting a blend of youth and experience

Bayer admits that balancing the different shareholder expectations can be a juggling act, with compromise needing to be struck between sometimes conflicting priorities.

"So, you have four targets and you need to find a compromise between those four to make sure that you put everything together in the best possible way," he explained.

"And that's why I don't like the junior team bit, because being successful on track, [and] commercially, is something that comes first."

To Bayer, RB is best-served with blend of youth and experience in its driver pairing, something he feels is achieved with the line-up of Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

"Now, ideally, we do that by having one experienced driver and a young one. I've seen it last year with Liam, I saw it this year with Yuki. You put an experienced guy next to these youngsters and they learn," he said.

"They learn it's not necessarily about the speed they have, but it's about how to engage with the engineers. It's about how to react in certain situations, how to approach the weekend."

Turning attention back to the project at RB, Bayer brought up the influence of team principal Laurent Mekies, adding: "So, long story short, we do stand on our own two feet, we're investing heavily into facilities, into people.

"Laurent has completely turned the whole technical sporting team upside down. 

"So many people joined us, or will join us, actually, in an unheard, unseen, shaking the tree approach, and we will see the results of that only in the future."