Were there any last, lingering doubts about what really drives modern sport, Formula One managed to dispel them with crushing and depressing finality on Wednesday. Welcome, then, to a world where F1 now boasts a team named Visa Cash App RB, a title that deadens the soul with every utterance and stands, surely, as the very worst in the sport’s history.
The team were once the doughty Minardi. Formed in Faenza, Italy by Giancarlo Minardi, they were bought by Red Bull in 2005, raced as Toro Rosso until 2020 when they were once more rebranded as AlphaTauri to promote the brand’s clothing line. Both positively homely denominations in comparison to this latest abomination. They were at least titles that suggested a racing team, rather than simply the corporate sponsor with whom Red Bull have done a deal, across both its teams, worth millions.
