Who are Alpha Tauri’s admirers if Red Bull decides to sell them?

After the death of Red Bull founder and CEO Dietrich Matesitz in October 2022, Alpha Tauri’s future in Formula 1 looks bleak. The reasons for this are varied, competitive and non-competitive, but the truth is that the current time is the ideal time to sell a team.

As Michael Andretti bitterly discovered in his bid to make Andretti Global the 11th Formula One team (with official backing from General Motors via Cadillac), the sport is not taking the prospect well. And especially the ten existing teams who don’t want to share their share of the F1 TV rights with an 11th member.

When Andretti put forward a proposal to increase the guarantee for a new team aiming to enter Formula 1 from $200m to $600m (!) to compensate the other 10 teams for the revenue they lose would, it became clear that it was an existing team in this sport will be a bone of contention not only for Andretti but also for several other interested tycoons or business managers or manufacturers who aspire to start their own F1 team.

Aside from the hugely lucrative prospect of selling Alpha Tauri, there are racing reasons Red Bull would want to sell them. First off, the team is in a competitive slump: last year they finished the championship on a poor penultimate place and this year’s AT04’s performance in the Bahrain Test doesn’t leave much hope for much better.

Then Alpha Tauri has lost one of its most important raison d’être in recent years: the development of new drivers for the core Red Bull Racing team. Max Verstappen has a contract until the end of 2028 and Red Bull Academy has started to ‘produce’ more stars than it needs.

Also, a driver outside of the Red Bull family, Sergio Perez, was chosen for the position alongside Verstappen and Pierre Gasly was characteristically ignored. Helmut Marko (Head of the Red Bull Driver Academy) also chose a Mercedes driver for Alpha Tauri this year, Dutchman Nick de Vries.

Based on the above, but also Red Bull’s decision to close several parts of the Alpha Tauri fashion brand, the Austrian company is leaning towards two options: either sell the Fanesa team or move it to the Red Bull Racing headquarters in Milton Kins of Britain to relocate reduce costs. There is, of course, the possibility that nothing will change.

However, if he decides to sell, the interest rates will be very high. The first and foremost prospect would be Andretti Global, who is pushing the FIA ​​to secure a place in F1 with the backing of General Motors and an agreement with Renault/Alpine to use its engines.

Michael Andretti’s team has of course already started building their headquarters in the town of Fishers, Indiana, but the American – a former F1 driver – wants a base in Europe for his support. He would have preferred it to be in the UK but of course Alpha Tauri’s facilities in Faenza have been greatly expanded by Red Bull over the past two decades.

Also, he can buy the team and move it to the US. And that’s a drop in the bucket of millions of dollars needed to secure 11th place in sports teams.

Then two manufacturers could show interest in buying the Alpha Tauri: Honda and Porsche. The two factories were in talks with Red Bull Racing but ultimately lost their train for a number of reasons and well before Milton Keynes’ team decided to forge its sponsorship and technology partnership with Ford.

Honda is among the six engine manufacturers of 2026, but its Tokyo management has not yet decided whether it will officially and factory-participate in F1. Now, however, its options are limited: if it wants to supply engines, the only teams available are McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams. But suddenly, with the sale of Alpha Tauri, the possibility arises for Honda to set up its own complete works team again. Although such a thing sounds very attractive, the company’s management has allegedly eliminated this possibility.

As for Porsche, following the failure of its talks to buy 50% of RBR, it seems extremely doubtful that it would want to buy Red Bull’s second team. Especially as the partnership with Red Bull Racing would also include Red Bull Powertrains’ newly built engine plant in Milton Keynes. Porsche does not have an engine factory and will also have to make this investment – while time for 2026 has become tight.

The same applies to Hyundai, which is rumored to be considering entering Formula 1. Though her mind is racing in the background, it’s highly doubtful she can now commit to a move as big as buying an already existing team.

Two other potential buyers could be two racing teams in smaller motorsport categories. The first is Hitech, which is financially backed by Russia’s Uralkali by Dmitry Mazepin, father of former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. The former was interested in buying both Force India and Racing Point before Lawrence Stroll acquired it and renamed it Aston Martin F1 and Haas by American Gene Haas. Of course, a possible purchase of Alpha Tauri will also depend on the FIA’s stance on the Russian-uranian issue.

The second team is the Mumbai Falcons. It was founded 4 years ago by the Indian construction company Gadhoke Group and immediately became one of the leading groups in Asia – also thanks to the partnership with the prestigious Prema. Mumbai Falcons is the racing home of many young talents from the F1 teams’ academies, has close ties with the FIA ​​- mainly in the field of karting – and participates in the group of promoters of Formula Regional Indian and Indian Formula 4. Its gigantization in Such a short time is rare in the history of motorsport.