RB CEO Bayer hits back at Red Bull collaboration critics

This year RB and Red Bull are set to work closer than before amid a major rebrand for the Faenza-based outfit, which operated under the AlphaTauri for the last four seasons.

RB launched its 2024 challenger, the VCARB-01, last week and several similarities to Red Bull's ideologies were noted.

F1’s regulations strictly prohibit the sharing of information between separate Constructors, however there are certain elements that can be purchased from other teams.

Amid Red Bull’s vow to operate the two squads as closely as the regulations permit, concerns have been raised by rivals.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown called for changes to be made to the sport’s rules to stop such a scenario from being legal going forward and “maintain fairness”.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Bayer suggested that concerns are only being voiced now due to increased concern regarding potential changes to the pecking order.

“One of the first things you learn in Formula 1 is that the easiest way to become unpopular is to be successful,” he said.

“As long as you’re last, people will not even realise you're there. As soon as you start knocking on the door, they will throw everything at you that they can.

“I’m coming from the FIA [where he held the role of Executive Director Formula 1] and I know how much scrutiny there is on all of the teams.

“Certainly, there is even more scrutiny when it comes to the teams working closer together. The rules are very clear.

“You might have seen the statement of the FIA, when they looked at our car, [they said] ‘this is a different concept’. There is nothing that concerns us.”

Seeking external help a necessity

During its history, the Red Bull sister team (which operated as Toro Rosso from 2005 to 2019 and AlphaTauri from 2020 to 2023) has finished no higher than sixth in the end-of-year standings.

Bayer stated that it is impossible for a team such as RB to become a front-running outfit without help from an existing Constructor that is successful.

“It’s important for us because we want to be tough but fair competitors,” he said.

“The other thing I keep saying is if you look at the World Championship rankings from last year, you add the points from the bottom four teams, they have less than the team in P6.

“So what does it mean? It means that ultimately Formula 1 is a battle of resources [and] nowadays, also efficiency. And I believe that the teams which are further back in the rankings, they need a certain amount of support.

“That’s mainly through financial [means], pieces of product supply to actually remain competitive.

“The others, they will out-qualify and out-pay, be it on drivers, be it on certain investments on the CapEx side. In my eyes, it’s the wrong approach.

“The financial reality is a given today, and it's not that all the 10 teams are making money. We have to be careful [not] to overreact to the paranoia of certain people.”