Visa Cash App RB an ugly name? Yes, but the team could not do otherwise

Visa Cash App RB. Absolutely nobody will say that it is a wonderful name that Red Bull Racing's sister team will start using for the 2024 Formula 1 season. No doubt, the Italian team themselves are in complete agreement. But it is too easy to condemn Visa Cash App RB from the sidelines. Here's why.

Formula 1 is an expensive business. Only the largest companies in the world can afford to sponsor an F1 team. Take Oracle, the software company that is Red Bull Racing's main backer. The Americans pay $100 million annually for five years to be associated with Max Verstappen's team.

Petronas has long stood by Mercedes, transferring $75 million per season to do so. Stake, the new namesake of the Sauber F1 team, will pay $50 million each year. Even the smallest team on the grid, Haas F1, receive $20 million a year from title sponsors Moneygram. And what did the former Toro Rosso get since they used the AlphaTauri name? Reportedly, a "paltry" $15 million came out of their own pocket. After all, AlphaTauri is Red Bull's clothing brand.

Red Bull was fairly tired - after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz - of keeping (then) AlphaTauri afloat every year with a huge cheque. Especially when performance was mediocre, to say the least. For quite some time, the Austrian concern had been looking for external backers who could pump the necessary dollars into the team. Those have now been found and happen to be called Visa and Cash App. Well, there is nothing to be done about that.

With the tens of millions paid by both financial companies in the coming years, Red Bull Racing's sister team will be able to keep going. In any case, with more funding comes more opportunities. Formula 1 has a budget cap, but it is also no secret that the smaller teams on the grid - and the former team of Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel is one of them - do not always reach that maximum amount.

Moreover, the salaries for the drivers and the three highest-paid staff members fall outside the budget cap. With the money from Visa and Cash App, attracting more expensive drivers - often the better drivers - and absolutely top staff is probably possible. Only in this way can Visa Cash App RB really fulfil their ambition to play a more significant role in Formula 1.

Anyone criticising the path taken by Visa Cash App should put themselves in the mind of the Italian team: it simply had no choice but to go into partnership with the new namesakes if they want to stop having an anonymous existence in Formula 1.