F1 boss reveals Ricciardo VCARB verdict amid 'intense' pre-season

VCARB’s CEO Peter Bayer has heaped praise on the work his team has done after a promising pre-season.

After four years of being known as AlphaTauri, the team, formally known as Minardi, were rebranded to VCARB after gaining sponsorship from payment card giant VISA and mobile payment service Cash App.

VCARB also gained sponsorship from fashion company Hugo Boss through its Hugo brand and watch company Tudor. The team’s technical department was also reshuffled over the winter of 2024, with former Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies replacing the legendary Franz Tost as team principal.

Former Alpine sporting director Alan Permane joins the team as sporting director, with former McLaren race engineer Tim Goss appointed chief technical officer.

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‘So far so good' after the first two days of testing

On the driver front, Australian veteran Daniel Ricciardo and Japan's Yuki Tsunoda remain as the team’s drivers for 2024. The pair have been teammates since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix when Ricciardo returned to F1 after being drafted in at AlphaTauri to replace Dutchman Nyck De Vries, who was axed from the team following the British GP.

VCARB has taken inspiration from Red Bull’s 2023 all-conquering RB19 and will switch to a pull-rod front suspension, which the team used to their advantage on their way to both the Drivers and Constructors titles.

Pre-season testing saw the new VCARB-01 show great speed, with Ricciardo setting the fourth-fastest time on day one and the fifth-fastest on day two.

"The team has done an amazing effort,” said an upbeat Bayer during pre-season testing in Bahrain. “We had a very intense pre-season with the rebranding and getting everything right.

"To finally be here at [the] track is really what we’ve all been waiting for. Yesterday went quite well. We went out, we had no big issues. The car was ready, so the team has done an amazing job.

"Both Daniel and Yuki felt well in the car and didn’t report any major issues. So far, so good."

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