The F1 team 'attacking a mountain' after early identity crisis

The 2024 F1 season has seen two new team names adorn the official entrant list.

Whilst the first, Stake, is a temporary measure from Sauber as it transitions into the works Audi team for the start of 2026, the second was a considerably more conspicuous change.

Having only recently re-branded as AlphaTauri, Red Bull opted for a new marketing venture, dropping the name of its high-end clothing subsidiary in favour of a more distinct identity: Visa Cash App RB - or simply RB.

Speaking exclusively with RacingNews365 over the Singapore Grand Prix, the team's CEO, Peter Bayer, discussed the change, detailing the process of adopting the new identity, something he concedes has not been straightforward.

"I think we've progressed immensely," the 53-year-old reflected. "Everything happened very late. Contracts had been signed at the late stage. Team identity creation came in very last minute, and so we had a very steep mountain to climb in explaining to the world who we are.

"Building up on the Minardi, Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri legacy wasn't easy because people get used to names and faces and colours, and so it took a moment to sort out the identity and the brand and everything, so it probably was a bit of a rough start.

"But, at the same time, it was amazing. Everybody was extremely motivated and pushed by the fact that we had, first of all, Red Bull behind us as a group.

"Secondly, we had Visa joining the team. It's one of the biggest brands in the world. We had Cash App joining with Visa, bringing all those fresh ideas."

What's in a name?

Now officially called Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, the change has not been without its challenges. There has been confusion over the name and media has been divided on how it refers to the team.

"That's what I meant with referring to a rough start," Bayer added. "You might have noticed that we changed TV graphics after a couple of races to simplify the message and unify the approach."

Most written coverage has settled on either VCARB, which does not truly highlight the sponsorship behind the team, or RB, which omits it altogether.

However, for Bayer, the distinction between the former and the team's full name is inconsequential.

"For Visa, whether you call the team VCARB or Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, it's the same thing," said the Austrian.

"The branding of the car, the team kit, the communication, the content, all of that needs to be taken into consideration.

"And on the name, we see a strong consolidation now around Racing Bulls, because people are picking up the company name more and more, and we always said, 'We want the fans to be on board with us'."

With some outlets, such as RacingNews365, referring to the team as just RB, Bayer did allude to changes for 2025 to provide clarity on the Racing Bulls' intent behind the official entrant name.

"At least people I speak to, 99 per cent [of them] are moving between VCARB or Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. Those are the two names that I'm mostly confronted with," he explained.

"The RB bit is obviously related to the chassis name, which we had to register with the FIA, but that's something we'll look at for next year."

Turning point

Addressing the 'immense progress' Bayer has witnessed over the season, he singled out the Miami Grand Prix in May as a turning point for the team, with fans able to better understand the brand direction and the underlying principles of its identity.

"One of the first highlights in the season was Miami, when we launched a new livery," he said. "People suddenly realised, 'Hey, these guys are not only quick on track, they're also fun and different', and it gave us an immense push.

"Miami was probably that first moment where the whole team took a deep breath and was like, 'Wow, it works! People realise we're there, we're existing'."

That weekend in Florida was punctuated by a strong sprint result for the now-departed Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified his RB in fourth for the shorter race - a position he held onto to claim his first points of the season.

"We had so much positive feedback through social media, fans reacting to the livery and to the performance, of course, on track," reflected Bayer.

Bayer is cognisant not to shy away from the difficult transitional period the team suffered up to that point, highlighting how pivotal that moment was for the perception of RB and fan opinion of the new identity.

"In Miami, a lot of the fans said, 'You've got a funny name, but we love the look of the team', and we went through that," he mused. "So I don't want to hide it, we went through it."

"[But] that helped us to find the trajectory for the rest of the year."

In Bayer's eyes, those liveries have laid the foundations of establishing a unique, if unorthodox, identity and a brand whose approach resonates with F1's support base.

Now, despite being less than a year old and still in its formative stages, the RB CEO feels the team is ready to kick on.

"And again, we're having big success, and a lot of immense praise from the fans, who seem to like the way we do things," he stated.

"From a brand-business perspective, it looked like a very steep mountain to climb, but we're reaching [base] camp five now, and we're ready to attack the last bit of the mountain."