Red Bull in No Hurry to Sell Toro Rosso

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz insisted that there is no hurry in trying to find a buyer for Toro Rosso. Despite admitting it would be hard-close-to-impossible maintaining full ownership over two Formula 1 teams in the long run, the Austrian revealed that FIA’s latest cost cutting measures that are to be introduced in the series from as early as this year have slightly improved the situation.

Mateschitz took full ownership of the Faenza-based outfit in the autumn of 2008, after buying Gerhard Berger’s share in the team. However, due to the economic downturn that appeared shortly after the buyout, he has been trying to find an investor to take over ever since.

Nevertheless, the Red Bull boss does not want to proceed to selling the Scuderia unless the future ownership will not provide him with guarantees that Toro Rosso will keep breathing F1 air in the future.

“There is no pressure on us to proceed with the sale. If there is a potential buyer, he has to guarantee to keep STR alive and have the knowledge and funding to do this. The cost-cutting measures in F1 are useful and appreciated, we can save a lot of money by them. For both teams we can save 100 million Euros,” said Mateschitz in an interview for Salzburger Nachrichten.

Toro Rosso is yet to announce their complete lineup for the upcoming season. Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato have equal chances of joining Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi in STR’s 2009 roster, despite rumors that the Frenchman has already secured his racing spot for next year. Nicolas Todt, Bourdais’ manager, revealed that one of the STR’s basics for naming their 2nd driver this season is how much sponsorship money he can bring in.