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Stoddart owned what is now RB from 2001 until the end of 2005 when he sold the Italian team to Red Bull’s billionaire owner, Dietrich Mateschitz.
It was rebranded Toro Rosso for that season and has spent much of the nearly two decades since as a feeder team to the Austrian billionaire’s other F1 operation, Red Bull Racing.
Through the years it has been rebranded twice more, first as AlphaTauri and then, for this year, RB.
The latest name change coincides with a revised outlook for the squad with the team now expected to stand on its own two feet far more than it previously has.
New title sponsors have been introduced for the first time since Red Bull took control in 2006, and it has recruited experienced drivers in Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo – a notable change from its former purpose which was to prepare drivers for the senior team.
“When I sold the team at the end of ’05, in the negotiations, I had two stipulations, Stoddart told Speedcafe.
“One, the team had to stay in Faenza. And the second was that the staff had to be looked after; if you wanted to get rid of anyone, you pay them out properly.
“And honestly, there was a contract and everything, but it was done on a handshake.
“ Dietrich not only honoured, he exceeded [expectations] – now they’ve got 700 people or whatever it is.
“In Faenza, [the factory] I believe is virtually the whole block. We used to have the main office, which was the original Minardi building, then we had a carbon centre where we did all the autoclaves and everything down at the next intersection.
“I believe they’ve now got the lot.
“It’s gone to a good place,” he added.
“It’s brought some fantastic talent over the years, I mean the Maxs, the Daniels, etcetera, etcetera.”
With fresh investment and an influx of new staff building on the foundations laid down under its Minardi guide, Stoddart is hopeful of further progress.
Having struggled throughout its life as Minardi, the team has now won two races; one with Sebastian Vettel in Monza in 2008, and again in Italy courtesy of Pierre Gasly in 2020.
Though no longer associated with the team, Stoddard has remained in contact with a number of his former staff, proud of the role he played in keeping a team founded in 1985 on the grid – many of whom have remained within the organisation.
“It’s still here and a lot of teams aren’t, and it’s still going strong,” he observed.
“I think this year what I see, and it’s still early days, but I think you’ll see them up in the genuine midfield, P5/6, somewhere there.
“The package they’ve got is good enough to do that. The drivers they’ve got… Daniel needs his confidence back but he’s a good driver and he’s a better driver than you’re seeing at the moment.
“I’m more than proud,” he added.
“But that again comes back to who I sold it to – somebody who was always, always going to look after the team.
“It was always going to have a good future, not just a future, a good future.
“Unfortunately, he passed and I really do miss him because he was one of the greats.”
