As expected, Red Bull Racing's Dieter Mateschitz
announced at the Belgian Grand Prix that his company had agreed to buy 100% of Minardi, with the
deal to complete by November 1.
The second team will be an entry point into F1 for Red Bull's many junior drivers, and will continue to operate out of
its existing base in Italy.
This being Formula 1, there are interesting ramifications of the deal:
-
FIA boss Max Mosley will no longer have to deal with Minardi's Paul Stoddart
-
Red Bull Racing is contracted with Ferrari for engines in 2006, while Minardi are contracted with Cosworth. Ferrari have already said that they do not have the capacity to supply another team, so this arrangement should remain.
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Minardi is contracted with Bridgestone for 2006, while Red Bull Racing just renewed their contract with Michelin.
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Bernie Ecclestone gains support for the existing Concorde Agreement from Mateschitz, while eliminating Stoddart as a supporter of the breakaway series proposed by some of the larger teams.
It should be interesting to see Red Bull's "Rookie Team" evolve through the off-season. More here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
g @ Dec 18th 2005 10:49PM
And of course, most interesting to us Americans, is the possibility of Scott Speed actually racing in F1 next year, and not just doing Friday testing.
Galley @ Dec 18th 2005 10:49PM
So what does this mean, now there will only be NINE teams?
Stuart Waterman @ Dec 18th 2005 10:49PM
Galley - The two RB teams will operate separately, one based in the UK and the other in Italy.