Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team RB is already worth over a billion dollars, according to CEO Peter Bayer.
He told Auto Motor und Sport that, after the death of Red Bull figurehead Dietrich Mateschitz, the next generation of leadership considered downsizing to just one team - Red Bull Racing.
"The owners then decided very quickly that this team did indeed have a function," said Bayer.
However, he suggested the prospect of selling was also attractive to the company.
"Formula 1 experienced an incredible upswing during this time," said Bayer. "Williams was sold for around 150 million euros in 2020. Audi had to pay more than 600m for Sauber. Alpine sold shares that corresponded to a valuation of 900m. "And we already had offers of over a billion for the team.
"So keeping the team also makes sense from a business point of view. But we were told clearly that we had to be more successful on the track."
To do that, greater synergies were found between RB and the main Red Bull team, including increased sharing of parts. Still, Bayer admits RB still costs Red Bull money.
"Does anyone know any sponsors?" he laughed. "If you only look at the chassis side, then maybe the top teams are currently earning money - Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren. The others still need support from their owners."
Bayer also admitted that ’RB’ - full official name Visa Cash App RB - will get an official name change for 2025. "We are now seeing from the fans and the media that ’Racing Bulls’ is simply the new identity," he said.
"We want to focus on that in future communications."
Meanwhile, Bayer seemed to play down raging speculation that Franco Colapinto will jump the queue directly into a Red Bull-owned F1 seat next year.
"Our focus is clearly on the Red Bull junior program," he said. "We are concentrating on Yuki (Tsunoda) and Liam (Lawson) for now. The next in line is Isack Hadjar, who we are already working with a lot and who spends a lot of time in the simulator for us."