"There's always a degree of skepticism and paranoia": F1 pundit on how the AlphaTauri and Red Bull association feels 'similar' to Ferrari and Haas

F1 pundit Scott Michell-Malm stated that Red Bull and AlphaTauri's close association is reminiscent of Ferrari and Haas's collaboration in the 2018 season.

The Austrian team announced that it would be sharing some parts with its sister team from the 2024 season onwards in their quest to make them more competitive in the field as well.

Previously Ferrari and Haas had also shared some of the components in the 2018 season. This proved pivotal in the American team finishing the season in P5 in the constructors' championship which remains their highest position since their inception in 2016.

Mitchell-Malm spoke about the association causing a 'few rumblings' in the paddock at the end of the season on The Race podcast. He said:

"We often for a while heard it about Haas and Ferrari as that was always the favored complaint that I remember. In 2018, one of my jobs in Australia was gathering spicy quotes from McLaren, Renault, and the like digging into Haas. It's started to feel a little bit similar,"

"There's always a degree of skepticism and paranoia around the Red Bull relationship as it's not just customer and supplier."

McLaren CEO speaks on his 'concerns' about the Red Bull-AlphaTauri relationship

McLaren CEO Zak Brown Stated that there were some concerns regarding the relationship between AlphaTauri and Red Bull heading into the 2024 season as it is pretty uncommon for the same brand to have two teams on the grid.

As per Motorsport.com, Brown emphasized the importance of having independence in the sport, saying:

"We have some big concerns over the alliance between AlphaTauri and Red Bull. I think that is something that needs to be addressed in the future. So, I still think the sport has a way to go to make sure that everyone is truly independent.”

“It is two teams with common ownership, which you wouldn’t have in other sports. [It could benefit Red Bull in] a lot of different ways. There is a reason why they are moving a lot of their people from Italy. I get that because that’s what the rules say. But I think we need to look at the governance of the sport around technical alliances.”

It will be interesting to see if AlphaTauri will make the same gains that Haas made in the 2018 season due to their close association with Ferrari and challenge Alpine.