Formula One team Toro Rosso has been on the grid since 2006 after Red Bull bought and rebranded Minardi. But that might not be the case moving forward. Toro Rosso has requested a name change for the 2020 season... to AlphaTauri. Which also happens to be the name of Red Bull’s ultra-expensive luxury clothing line.
The Toro Rosso experiment has proved pretty damn successful over the years. Drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have started off as part of Red Bull’s junior team before graduating to the big-leagues. Its name was basically just the Italian translation of Red Bull to serve as a way to link the two teams together.
But the AlphaTauri move would link it to Red Bull in a far different way, Motorsport.com reports. AlphaTauri just so happens to be the name of a Red Bull clothing line that launched two years ago. Instead of marketing Red Bull’s cola products, its junior team would instead market rich people clothes.
Seriously. This stuff is so expensive that it’d take a month’s savings to actually deck yourself out in a full outfit. Here’s a look at the autumn/winter lineup this year:
If you’re feeling like a high roller, the most expensive item in this collection selection will cost you a measly $980 over here in America (which doesn’t even take into consideration what I am sure is obscenely priced shipping). For those of you on a budget, you can slip into a nice long-sleeve shirt for $130.
The whole AlphaTauri schtick here is that its clothes are perfect for a sporty lifestyle. It’s breathable and packable, the site claims, so you can remain nice and cozy as you, I don’t know, go skiing in a fancy Alpine resort.
Honestly, it seems like a pretty smart move. As an avid follower of all things F1, I hadn’t heard of AlphaTauri until the name change request was announced. What better way to promote expensive clothing than to deck your drivers out in it and plaster the name on the side of your fancy race car?
The name change still isn’t official. To actually make the swap, the request has to be approved by both the commercial rights holder and the F1 Commission via e-vote. But honestly, there’s no real reason why this should end up being denied.