25/11/2008
NEWS STORY
Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has bought back outright control of Toro Rosso, with the Austrian buying Gerhard Berger's 50-percent stake in the team.
The deal was announced late this afternoon (Tuesday), with Mateschitz saying: "I am very grateful to Gerhard for his huge input. Together we made Toro Rosso into a team that qualified on a regular basis in the top ten and collected world championship points."
It’s an odd statement, as Toro Rosso has out-shadowed its sister team this year, particularly once it got hold of the new Red Bull chassis. This, combined with the Ferrari engine saw the Faenza outfit take the team's first win, allowing it to finish sixth in the Constructor’s Championship, ten points clear of Red Bull.
Mateschitz' latest move is sure to cause confusion, as the Austrian had previously made no secret of the fact that he wished to off-load his stake in the former Minardi team.
Today's move, together with the ambiguous comment regarding Berger, suggests that either, against all odd, he intends continuing with both operations, or, more likely, has a purchaser lined up for Toro Rosso who didn't want Berger involved.