Will Berger remain involved after selling his STR shares back to Red Bull? (LAT Photo)
On Tuesday evening European time Red Bull made the surprise announcement that it had taken back Gerhard Berger’s 50% shareholding in Toro Rosso, bringing the former Minardi team back under the full control of the drinks company. Berger originally gained the shareholding in return for his management skills and a share in his trucking business.
It was an unusual deal that raised a few eyebrows, and the original plan was that both parties would bring outside funding to the table. However it’s been all too obvious over the past three seasons that there has been no extra sponsorship on the car and that therefore Red Bull was basically still financing the whole thing.
This year, Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz said he planned to sell the team, something that the dual ownership made rather complex. It remains to be seen whether he has changed his mind or whether the current arrangement will make it easier either to sell the team or attract a new partner.
He may not have brought in the expected sponsorship, but there’s no doubt that together with Franz Tost Berger did a good job of building up the team and taken it to the level that it achieved this year. Just before the end of the season we spoke at length with the Austrian. And while there was no clear sign yet that today’s announcement was coming, his thoughts are still worth reading. This is what he had to say.
Q:How much did you learn about being a manager from the family truck business and looking after your own career?
“You know, normally to learn correctly how to be a manager or something, you do it in a school. Which I never did. I grew up in a family company, where we were wheeling and dealing with everything, and that’s something that I saw from a very young age, where I understood how the system works. That’s all that I know. Then afterwards, being a race driver and working for big companies, you see a certain style of working. As I never learned it, I couldn’t really take it over, the real process management or whatever the names are. But I could understand and I could see what was going on. Certain things I could pick up. At the end of the day, I’m a street fighter, and nothing more.”
Q:How old were you when you first got involved in the truck business?
“Let’s say it this way, I started very early dealing with bicycles and mopeds and stuff like this. When I was 12 I was buying and selling, it didn’t matter what it was. So I started very early to wheel and deal!”
Q:When you were racing, was it always yourself dealing direct with the team bosses?
“Yeah, exactly. I worked out for myself the rough conditions that I needed, and then I had a lawyer who put it into words. It’s always in the negotiations that you see how far you can go. Sometimes you go in with a price, and you feel there’s more. And you turn around your game and you try to get more. So I always did it as it was at that moment.”
Q:What was in your mind when you retired at the end of 1997? Were you thinking that you would put more time into the truck business, or were you already thinking I want another role in motor racing?
“It was quite open. I knew that my active racing career was going to tend. It was mainly physically, I couldn’t do it anymore, I wasn’t healthy enough, I was not fit enough, I was just totally worn out. So it was clear to stop. It was great to still win a race in the last season, but it was just time to do something different. I was very, very lucky, I earned good money, so I could choose what I wanted to do. If I wanted to work, I could work, if I wanted to go to the beach, I could go to the beach, and I just let it come.”
Q:Did you go back into the trucks for a while?
“No, because at this time already I had the deal with BMW in place. I decided to do this because as much as I liked the trucks, and I grew up there, my real experience I got in racing. My love and my life was racing. It made more sense that if I do something again, I do it in racing.”
Q:So BMW were in contact before you stopped racing?
“Yeah. I thought for a while about it, but not too long. It was such a good possibility that I decided that was what I was going to do.”
Q:Did you actually take some time off?
“That was part of the deal, to have a break in-between, and not jump from one to the other.”
Q:Did you get bored when you were away?
“Not at all! It’s the same as today, I would have so many things that I would want to do outside of it. Get your priorities right, and if you have a year break, you do what you like.”
Q:Looking back, how do you view the BMW experience now?
“That was maybe my best experience. Like I said before, I was very close to a fantastically managed company. So I could see how meetings were run, how process management was, how budget control was. So it was a very interesting experience.”
F1: No Fulltime Comeback For Damon Hill
F1: Montezemolo Tries To Boost Ferrari Staff
SPEED All Over 'Racing's Greatest Weekend'
F1: Kubica Return 'Nearly Impossible' - Source
F1: Lotus Relations Turned Sour - Petrov
F1: Grand Prix News Briefs (Update 3)
F1: Massa Q&A: 'Fernando’s Driving Is Amazing'
