It would appear that there are now several parties interested in purchasing Minardi - with Paul Stoddart admitting interest from up to five possible purchasers.

This means that in 2006 the team Minardi, as we know it, could be missing from the grid. But where would this leave the 'pay drivers'.

Of the current grid alone, Christijan Albers, Robert Doornbos, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber, Giancarlo Fisichella and World Champion elect, Fernando Alonso, all made their F1 debuts with the Faenza outfit. While both Ferrari test drivers, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, not forgetting BAR's Anthony Davidson, can all thanks the Italian team for their F1 'breaks'.

We understand that in recent weeks several interested parties have carried out the necessary due diligence with a view to purchasing Minardi. Theses include Red Bull and a Russian consortium 'fronted' by Eddie Irvine. We understand that there is also "serious" interest from ABN AMRO Corporate Finance and two others.

The most likely buyer is Red Bull, and the purchase of Minardi by the Austrian drinks company, and its flamboyant owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, would go down very well with various people, including Bernie Ecclestone, who would have another entry for his 'new' World Championship (post 2007) and Max Mosley, who is a good friend of the Austrian.

Despite what some people might think, Stoddart is not looking to sell the team because he wants to get out of F1, or because he has simply grown tired of the sport, far from it. In fact he wants someone to come along who can move the team on, to develop it.

The thought that the Minardi name may well be missing from the grid, will shock some traditionalists, but we all know that in contemporary F1 there is no time for sentimentality, besides which, Red Bull's 'Rock 'n' Roll' approach to F1 is just the sort of thing that Bernie wants to see.

Buying Minardi would seem a perfect for solution for Red Bull, which for various reasons, has a wealth of drivers on its books, with new talent (seemingly) stepping off the Driver Search conveyor belt all the time. We already have Coulthard, Klien and Liuzzi, but waiting in the wings are Scott Speed, A.J. Allmendinger and countless other.

The idea of a Red Bull Team USA, which is what Minardi could become, is nothing new, Tom Walkinshaw first mooted the idea when Arrows ran into trouble in 2001.

In many ways, Red Bull purchasing Minardi makes perfect sense, however, the disappearance of the team, as is, would close another vital avenue for drivers wishing to break into F1, even if they have to pay for the privilege.

To many, the idea of pay drivers is abhorrent, however, the reality is that there have been pay drivers in motorsport since it first began, and though Patrick Friesacher might not make it into the F1 record books, Fernando Alonso most certainly will.

It is the dream of any young racer to eventually break into the pinnacle of motorsport, but don't kid yourself that this is down to raw talent. Young racers today need money, lots of it, which means managers, advisors and all manner of other assistants. It means not simply being good in the car, but being good with sponsors, fans and the media. In other words its no longer about race-craft, young F1 hopefuls have to be marketable.

If, or rather when, Minardi disappears from the grid, morphing into Red Bull Team 2, or whatever, it will be a bad day for many youngsters currently working their way up through the ranks, and a further signal to the sport that we need more teams not less.