SAUBER Says Goodbye and Good Luck to Red Bull

By Jamie Makin
November 17 2004

Yesterday's headlines were all about Red Bull's eleventh-hour purchase of the Jaguar team. The news was received enthusiastically by the Formula One community as it ensured the required number of teams will make it to the grid in Melbourne next March.

Lost amongst the celebrations was the fact that this marked the end of a ten-year partnership between Red Bull and SAUBER PETRONAS. The Swiss team received USD 20 million annually from the Austrian energy drinks company and the void will be tough to fill. However, the news did not come as a shock to team owner Peter Sauber. "The fact that the cooperation with Red Bull will not be continued fills me with exceptional regret," said Sauber. "Yet I’m neither surprised nor unprepared since we’ve known about Dietrich Mateschitz’s dream of realizing his own Formula 1 team for years. Mateschitz has always communicated this to me in an honest and up-front manner. I would like to thank him for the outstanding 10-year cooperation that has benefited both sides and wish him the best of luck for his new team."

It will probably seem strange next year for SAUBER to start viewing Red Bull as a rival instead of an ally, but the team is still standing tall despite the loss. "For Sauber, the end of the partnership with Red Bull will not have any short-term effects," he said. "Concerning the situation over the long run, it makes no sense to engage in speculations at this point, since we will have enough time to influence this. With [Malaysian oil and gas company] Petronas and Credit Suisse at its side, Sauber has two strong and reliable partners, added to which is the support from MTS, a medium-sized sponsor, and roughly 40 smaller partners and sponsors. This puts the company on a solid foundation."

Peter is already looking towards the future and knows his team is heading in a direction that will make them attractive to prospective sponsors. "The 2004 season has shown that the team’s performance curve has been clearly pointing upwards, a fact that is also attributable to the new wind tunnel. This has made Sauber Petronas very attractive for potential partners. We are in contact with several companies."

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