V-CARB boss names ‘very important’ director who has ‘ignited’ the rest of the team this season

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Visa Cash App RB have had a mixed season so far, making obvious strides forward from their position on the grid last year, without making the final leap to the top of the midfield.

The early form of Yuki Tsunoda was outstanding and the Japanese driver only dropped out of the top ten of the Drivers’ Championship after Silverstone when Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg put in fantastic performances.

Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the Red Bull fold halfway through last season hasn’t been as fruitful as many would have expected and his performances have yo-yoed throughout the year.

The team rebranded over the winter, going from AlphaTauri to Visa Cash App RB – typically known as V-CARB or more confusingly, RB – and also moved some of their productions from Italy to the United Kingdom.

This was to create a closer relationship with the sister Red Bull team and several key personnel were signed over the winter to improve the backroom staff.

V-CARB CEO Peter Bayer was speaking to Planet F1 about the development of the team this season.

Bayer oversaw several key new signings coming in including experienced sporting director Alan Permane.

Permane has previously worked at Benetton and Renault before teaming up with V-CARB at the start of 2024.

Bayer believes that the introduction of Permane to the team has ignited the rest of the team and helped push everyone forward.

That progress now needs to translate into results with recent updates to the RB car not working as expected.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Visa Cash App RB F1 Team from team principal to Red Bull relationship

Alan Permane has ‘ignited’ improvements at V-CARB this season

Speaking about the progress made at RB this year, Bayer said: “By relaunching the team, we managed to get a couple of new, very important people in the early days.

“Alan Permane (formerly of Alpine), just to name one of them on the racing side, took immediately a very proactive role, and integrated within days literally into the existing team.

“That sort of ignited the ones who have been there for a while. Some people left and so we had a bit of a shake-up in the team that needed a moment to consolidate but the guys have been hand-picked to work together.

“They bond the team and, being a small team, sort of commando style, we manage to focus on the very important elements of the car and combine external experience with what we had inside – that has unlocked performance and then we’re very, very careful with changing the car because they’re so finicky.”

V-CARB now have a crucial decision to make on their 2025 driver line-up

There are never any guarantees when it comes to a driver’s future in the Red Bull group.

Yuki Tsunoda is signed up until the end of 2025 after a strong start to the season, but Red Bull don’t appear interested in promoting Tsunoda if they drop Sergio Perez in the summer break.

His teammate Daniel Ricciardo is in a more precarious position as the only driver in the current quartet who doesn’t have a contract for next year.

There is a suggestion that RB have already decided on Ricciardo’s future which might force the team to look into their impressive academy.

The driver at the front of the queue in that respect is Liam Lawson after his fantastic cameo last season.

However, Lawson is being talked about as a potential replacement for Perez should he lose his seat before the end of the campaign.

If that were to happen and Ricciardo moved on, then there would still be a seat to fill.

The timing might not be more perfect for Isack Hadjar who is currently leading the Formula 2 championship.

Hadjar could end up at RB next year, although Red Bull have previously offered Hadjar to Audi as they look to complete their driver line-up.

There may only be a few seats left on the grid to fill for next season, but an awful lot could change over the next few weeks, let alone before racing begins in Australia.