A report in German publication Auto Motor Und Sport on Saturday suggested that AlphaTauri’s future was up in the air on the back of its disappointing results last year.

As Red Bull itself dominated both F1 championships, AlphaTauri endured some frustrations with its car and ended up ninth in the standings - leading to a big drop in commercial rights income.

The AMuS story claimed that Red Bull was evaluating whether costs could be dramatically cut by moving AlphaTauri to the United Kingdom. If such a move were not possible, then the squad could be put up for sale.

Speaking to Sky Germany about the story on Saturday night, Marko declined to comment specifically on the matter.

However, he was clear that Red Bull could not be satisfied with having one of its teams performing so badly in F1.

“In general, we don't comment on rumours,” he said. “It's understandable that AlphaTauri can't be satisfied with what it achieved last year - ninth place in the constructors' championship. But such a decision is entirely up to the shareholders. These are rumours that we do not comment on in detail.”

Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Sources have suggested that a site in the UK, away from Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory, had already been identified as a potential location.

Marko did admit that Red Bull was looking heavily at ways of making its investment in AlphaTauri more economical.

“You think about how you can increase efficiency,” he said. “If you have a team that wins the world championship and the other one is only around ninth place, the synergies don't seem to work properly.”

He added: “The overall result is not satisfactory. As proper business people, our shareholders will make the right decision.”

Red Bull took control of the AlphaTauri team back in 2005, when it was originally rebranded as Toro Rosso for the 2006 campaign.

The original intention was for it to act as a Red Bull junior team and help develop young drivers that could then help lead the main squad’s title ambitions.

World champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen both started their F1 career at Toro Rosso.

However, with Red Bull having opted for the more experienced Sergio Perez from 2021 after feeling no junior drivers were ready, the fate of AlphaTauri has been questioned.

Asked about the historical importance of its second team, Marko said: “It is part of our philosophy. Vettel and Verstappen all came to us through AlphaTauri. But if the team doesn't perform properly, it doesn't help.”