Red Bull Rejects Astonishing Billion-Dollar Bid for Racing Bulls F1 Team

Red Bull has officially shut the door on what would have been one of the most lucrative team acquisitions in modern Formula 1 history. According to a new report from The Times, the energy drinks giant has rejected a staggering $3 billion bid for its sister squad, the Racing Bulls.

The monumental offer was reportedly backed by highly capitalized Abu Dhabi-based investment funds and spearheaded by two notable figures in the F1 financial sphere: financier Andrew Harriott and Dean Attew.

Attew’s involvement adds serious historical weight to the bid. A former investigator and adviser to former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Attew is no stranger to navigating massive motorsport acquisitions. Prior to Liberty Media purchasing Formula 1 in 2016, Attew was famously lined up to lead a consortium bid to buy the entire F1 Group from private equity firm CVC Capital.

The Exploding F1 Valuation Market

While a $3 billion price tag for a midfield sister team sounds almost incomprehensible on paper, it perfectly illustrates the astronomical explosion of F1 franchise valuations over the last few years.

To put that massive figure into perspective, when a consortium led by Otro Capital purchased a 24 percent stake in the factory Alpine team back in 2023, the deal valued the entire French squad at roughly $900 million.

Today, paddock insiders estimate that Alpine’s total valuation sits near that exact same $3 billion mark.

For Red Bull to turn down that much liquid capital for a secondary team—a team they originally purchased from Minardi decades ago simply to serve as a junior driver pipeline—proves that the parent company still sees massive long-term financial and strategic upside in keeping the Racing Bulls firmly under their corporate umbrella.

The rejection ensures that Red Bull will continue to operate its powerful two-team dynamic as the sport navigates the highly unpredictable early days of the new 2026 engine regulations.