Berger Has No Regrets Over Toro Rosso Sellout

Gerhard Berger did not leave Formula One because he was sick and tired with racing, but because his equity in the Scuderia Toro Rosso would not fulfill his dream of stepping on the F1 podiums as a winning constructor. The former Austrian driver sold his 50% share of STR to Red Bull's boss Dietrich Mateschitz at the end of 2008, despite the fact that the Faenza based team had recorded its very first win in the series, at Monza.

While enthused with the win, Berger admitted that Mateschitz' plan to turn Toro Rosso into Red Bull's junior team once again was the last drop. Not being able to challenge for race wins would have made no sense in 2009, therefore he decided to pull out from the team's ownership.

In an interview with Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, the 50-year old Austrian admitted having no regrets over his move last autumn.

“While Toro Rosso was planned as Red Bull's junior team, I absolutely wanted to win races. With Sebastian Vettel we did that. But then all the concentration was going to be on Red Bull with Toro Rosso going back into the junior role. That is not my philosophy,” said Berger for the aforementioned publication.

“Red Bull was financing us and unfortunately I was not in the situation to find sponsors with whom I could bring Toro Rosso to the level of a top team. So it made no sense for me to continue. I never want to play second fiddle. If there is no chance for success it's no longer fun for me. Now Christian Horner is having that fun with Red Bull,” added the former Ferrarian.

Although controlled by Red Bull 100%, Toro Rosso will still have to design their own chassis starting 2010. While probably benefiting from the designing ideas of the same Adrian Newey, the team will have to build all their parts back at Faenza, which will lead to a little more independence next year. However, with the majority of funds coming from Red Bull, it's highly unlikely STR will challenge their “big brother” in the series in 2010.