The team began as Minardi in 1985, and was owned by Red Bull GmbH since the 2006 season. In September 2019, Toro Rosso announced their intention to change their naming rights for the 2020 championship. On December 1, 2019, it was announced that the team would be known as AlphaTauri to promote Red Bull’s fashion label of the same name, retiring the Scuderia Toro Rosso moniker after fourteen years. According to Franz Tost and Helmut Marko, the rebrand also acknowledged a transition from Red Bull Racing’s junior team to its sister team.
Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly drove for AlphaTauri in their debut season, continuing with the Honda engine which had been their partner since 2018. Sérgio Sette Câmara, Sébastien Buemi, and Jüri Vips were signed as test drivers. The team achieved its first podium finish and race victory under the AlphaTauri name at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, marking Pierre Gasly’s first race win and the first win for a French Formula One driver since Olivier Panis won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, 24 years prior. AlphaTauri finished the year in 7th place with 107 points, 75 from Gasly and 32 from Kvyat.
For the 2021 season, AlphaTauri retained Gasly and signed Yuki Tsunoda to replace Kvyat. Gasly secured the team’s first podium of the year with a third-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He further consolidated this with fourth-place finishes at the Dutch and Mexico City Grands Prix. Tsunoda achieved a best finish of 4th place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Both drivers were retained for the 2022 season. AlphaTauri used Red Bull-branded Honda engines, following the takeover of the Honda engine programme after Honda’s exit from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season.
Yuki Tsunoda was retained for the 2023 season, with Nyck de Vries signing with the team after Pierre Gasly moved to Alpine after five years. Team principal Franz Tost left the team at the end of the season, replaced by Laurent Mekies, sporting director at Ferrari, following the team’s rebranding to RB Formula One Team. Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, De Vries was released, with Daniel Ricciardo replacing him on loan from Red Bull Racing for the remainder of the season. Ricciardo suffered a broken metacarpal in his left hand after a crash during the second practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix, leading to Liam Lawson replacing him for the events between the Dutch and Qatar Grands Prix. Ricciardo returned for the final five races, scoring the team’s highest points finish of the season with seventh place at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
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