Red Bull have taken back total control of the Toro Rosso Formula One team, the energy drink company said yesterday.
The company said in a statement that they had re-acquired co-owner Gerhard Berger’s 50 percent holding “subject to approval by competition authorities”.
Mateschitz originally acquired the Faenza-based team, then known as Minardi, at the end of 2005, with friend and former F1 driver Berger taking a 50 percent stake early the following year.
“I am very happy that I can support Didi (Mateschitz) - who has committed himself to Formula One with so much dedication - with the reorganisation of the team and in this process to make use of my knowledge so effectively,” Berger said.
Mateschitz added: “I’m very grateful to Gerhard for his enormous input. Together we have made Toro Rosso a team which, from 2008 onwards, will regularly qualify for the top 10 and collect championship points.
“Red Bull will now run Toro Rosso alone on this basis.”
Toro Rosso’s future had been in doubt, with Mateschitz saying in March that Red Bull wanted to sell their stake before 2010 when the current regulations require all teams to build and design their own cars.
The 2008 Toro Rosso and Renault-powered Red Bull cars were both designed by Red Bull Technology under the guidance of former McLaren technical director Adrian Newey.
It was not immediately clear what had brought about Mateschitz’s change of heart, although there has been talk recently of relaxing the ‘customer car’ rules, at a time when teams are under pressure to cut costs.
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