The team, formally named the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team and based in Faenza, Italy, has operated as a Red Bull Racing feeder outfit since entering Formula One as Toro Rosso in 2006. It raced as AlphaTauri from 2020 through 2023, finishing eighth in the constructors' standings in the latter year. The December 2023 rebranding coincided with a new sponsorship deal with financial services companies Visa Inc. and Cash App, and a declared ambition to build a closer technical partnership with Red Bull Racing.
Laurent Mekies took over as team principal from the retiring Franz Tost. Key technical hires for the 2024 season included Alan Permane, responsible for race weekend engineering operations, and Guillaume Cattelani, who oversaw aerodynamics and vehicle performance. The team also moved part of its Bicester operations into a new facility in Milton Keynes, with plans to house its aerodynamics department there by the end of the 2024 season.
The VCARB 01 was unveiled at a launch event in Las Vegas in February 2024. The car adopted a pull-rod front suspension arrangement similar to Red Bull Racing's approach, and featured a revised sidepod design in both the lower and upper sections to improve airflow towards the rear of the car. Observers noted a visual resemblance to the Red Bull RB18 and RB19 from the two preceding seasons; Mekies addressed the comparison directly, stating the car "is not the Red Bull of last year" and that shared components did not confer a performance advantage.
The car was powered by the Honda RBPT engine, the same power unit used by Red Bull Racing, badged under the Honda name for both teams. At the start of the season, the VCARB 01 carried over aerodynamic concepts from the AlphaTauri AT04, including modifications to the floor that had been introduced at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit covered 367 laps across three days with Ricciardo and Tsunoda sharing duties.
The VCARB 01 made its competitive debut at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. The car's predecessor, the AT04, had been described by critics as one of the weakest cars on the grid in 2023, and the VCARB 01 represented a genuine step forward in ambition if not always in results. The car achieved one fastest lap across the season, recorded by Daniel Ricciardo at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The team ran a series of special liveries during 2024: a pink and orange scheme in Miami, a denim-inspired design in Singapore, and a glittering blue livery in Las Vegas. The standard livery was predominantly blue with red pinstriping and silver charging bull graphics, drawing comparisons among fans to earlier Toro Rosso colour schemes.
Liam Lawson's arrival for the final six races followed Ricciardo's departure from the team after Singapore. Lawson had previously deputised for Ricciardo during the 2023 season after the Australian suffered a broken hand. Reserve driver duties across the year were held by Ayumu Iwasa.
The VCARB 01 represented the first tangible output of the renamed and restructured RB operation. While results were modest, the car demonstrated a more coherent technical direction than its immediate predecessor. The 2024 season served as a foundation for the team's continued effort to close the gap to the midfield leaders under tighter alignment with Red Bull's engineering resources.