Helmut Marko has insisted AlphaTauri is not for sale but admitted some changes could come as the team continue to underperform.

While life could hardly be rosier at Red Bull, it is very much the opposite case at their sister outfit AlphaTauri. Having finished P9 in the 2022 Constructors’ standings, their worst result since 2018, their start to the 2023 season has been less than ideal with the team one of two yet to score a point.

There also appears to be tension within the team as long-time team principal Franz Tost admitted he did not trust his own engineers anymore after their development predictions in the winter proved to be inaccurate.

Such was the poor performance, rumours emerged that parent company Red Bull were open to selling the team they have owned since 2005 but that was dismissed with an official statement.

Red Bull special advisor Marko has insisted that is still the case but has left the door open to changes within AlphaTauri, even as drastic as moving them away from their Faenza base in Italy and closer to Red Bull Racing HQ in the UK.

“No, AlphaTauri is not for sale,” he told RacingNews365.

“Internally, there were several considerations, though. What is not satisfactory is that AlphaTauri costs more than Red Bull, so what do we do?

“Do we restructure, do you stay in Italy? Do you move the team partially to England or maybe even completely? Do you sell the whole thing?

“These were the considerations, when a new management comes in, you go through every possibility. We need a second team, simple as that.

“Especially also for the [Red Bull Powertrains] engines, it has to work. We have very good people here, the best. But we also have to prove in practice that things are under control.”

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Marko also revealed that the name could be changed following its rebrand from Toro Rosso to AlphaTauri in 2020. The AlphaTauri name is shared by Red Bull’s fashion branch and is named after a star in the Taurus (the bull) constellation.

But with AlphaTauri clothes only being sold in a few locations, Marko admitted it does not make sense to advertise a brand in countries where it is not for sale

“It is something we are reconsidering,” Marko said about the name.

“It is logical too. The branding of AlphaTauri has been scaled back somewhat, because only in a few countries where we race, AlphaTauri is actually sold.

“It is about three to four countries only. The task is simple. More money must be brought in and results improved.”

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