Red Bull has purchased Jaguar Racing from the Ford Motor Company and will campaign the team in the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship season that includes the sixth annual United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Our move to fully owning a Formula One race team makes good business sense for Red Bull,” said Dietrich Mateschitz, founder and CEO of the energy drink company Red Bull. “Add to this the opportunity of being directly involved in a sport and activity from which I derive great personal pleasure, then it is easy to understand how delighted I am to have made this purchase.
“Not only does the ownership of this team represent the high point of our involvement in motor racing, it is also the logical and final step in the process we started with the Red Bull Junior program, where we identify, advise and promote young talent through the different formula from karting to the very pinnacle – Formula One.”
One of Red Bull’s programs is the Red Bull Driver Search run by 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan. The program’s aim is to find young drivers from the United States, provide them with financial backing and help them develop their skills with the ultimate aim of having an American driver in F1.
Two of the new stars of the program are Californians Scott Speed and Colin Fleming. In 2004, Speed became the first American to win a junior championship in Europe after winning the Formula Renault Eurocup.
Other Americans in the 2004 Red Bull program were Dominique Claessens, who competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup, and Matt Jaskol, who raced in North America in the Formula BMW USA series.
Red Bull has yet to nominate the drivers for its F1 team in 2005, and it will test many drivers in the coming months. It’s unlikely that Speed and Fleming or the other U.S. drivers currently in the program will be chosen for the 2005 season as they need more experience, but they will likely be candidates for a future F1 ride as Red Bull is anxious to increase F1’s exposure in the United States.
Red Bull’s purchase of Jaguar Racing ensures that the entire team, which consists of some 300 people, will stay together. Tony Purnell, who was the team principal of Jaguar Racing, will continue in the role with Red Bull F1.
“Can you imagine a better outcome for our team at Milton Keynes?” Purnell said, referring to the location of the team’s headquarters and factory. “I’ve got to know the folks at Red Bull well over the last year, first as a sponsor and now as our owner. High energy, high motivation, high commitment – they have it all. Dave Pitchforth and the team have won many admirers over the last two years, and their hard work has earned them this fabulous opportunity. The months of uncertainty are over, and this news is terrific!”
The Red Bull cars will use Cosworth V10 engines in 2005. Ford has sold Cosworth Racing to Champ Car World Series owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe. Cosworth also will supply engines to the European Minardi team in 2005.
