Red Bull bids to buy FIA.
Red Bull has launched plans to buy the FIA, in a move which will allow company boss Dietrich Mateschitz to achieve his long-held ambition of creating the Red Bull FIA Formula One World Championship.
In the past, Bernie Ecclestone has resisted any temptation to sell naming rights, despite considerable interest from the likes of Fosters', because he knew that he could not get agreement from the competing teams.
However, by purchasing the governing body and renaming it 'Red Bull FIA', Mateschitz will be able to completely circumvent any such opposition because, technically, it will not be a sponsorship of the championship.
We understand that Max Mosley is fully behind the deal, because of the long-term security that it will give the organisation. Informal talks apparently began in Shanghai last year, when Mosley attended an end-of-season party thrown by the soft drink magnate. Mosley and Mateschitz have been friends for some time, and share a passion for winter sports.
It's believed that the deal has been kept top secret until now, because both parties were keen to ensure that the five GPMA teams entered the championship and any uncertainty about the future was ended. Red Bull could not proceed with the deal until 1 April, because of the end of the Austrian financial year. It is believed that is the reason why Mosley chose the entry deadline of 31 March, so that Red Bull had a clearer picture of the future.
We understand that one of the few outsiders who knew that the deal was in progress was Ferrari boss Jean Todt. Cynics have already suggested that Flavio Briatore's recent visit to Maranello to discuss the future engine rules was part of a plot devised by Todt and Mosley to help encourage the GPMA teams to enter as soon as possible.
Sources have admitted that news of Flavio's visit did indeed help to push the others into submitting their entries earlier this week. Flavio is believed to have been exasperated when he learned on Friday evening of what was going on behind the scenes, having travelled to Maranello with a genuine intention to promote cost reduction.
As part of the deal all competing cars and drivers will carry small Red Bull logos or forfeit any chance of scoring points. Similar arrangements have long been common in NASCAR, a series that Red Bull is moving into next year and which has clearly inspired Mateschitz to pursue new marketing methods. The requirement is unlikely to go down well with the rest of the teams, some of whom already have soft drinks sponsors.
A GPMA team boss, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed his dissatisfaction with the news: "We are currently analysing the implications of the new information which was imparted to ourselves today," he said, "At this juncture, our initial corporate position is one of concern about this unprecedented juxtaposition of the governing body and a commercial enterprise. Anyway, Red Bull and Johnnie Walker don't mix."
Mateschitz is tipped to be placing Niki Lauda within the FIA organisation in an as yet unspecified position. The pair have been friends for many years but, while he has offered advice, Lauda has never had a formal role with Red Bull. His tasks are likely to include assessing the possibility of closing some of the FIA's many offices around Europe and moving operations to Salzburg Airport.
The deal will also bring about the creation of the Red Bull FIA World Rally Championship, but apparently Mateschitz hasn't noticed.
