"Our expectations are high"

Gerhard Berger, who this season acquired a 50% stake in Scuderia Toro Rosso, talks in the second part of the interview about the possibility of team orders in the Red Bull teams, new Formula One regulations and his plans from now to 2008.

What do you expect from Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed?
Our two drivers for the races have come up through the Red Bull young driver programme, so we know them very well and our expectations are high. How they will perform will depend not just on them but on the whole team. Nothing is certain in Formula One but these two guys have what it takes to do well in Formula One. Tonio is a bit more experienced but there’s not much in it.

In the first part of the interview you have already mentioned your “big brother” Red Bull Racing. How would you describe your mutual relationship – on and off the race track?
In one way Toro Rosso is the “junior” team, in that it features younger drivers, and part of the plan is that it could perhaps provide a stepping stone to Red Bull Racing. But as has been said before many times, even before I was involved, the teams may cooperate off the track but on the track they are rivals, and there is nothing I would like more than to see us beat the other guys. There is no way one of our drivers would be expected to move over to let a Red Bull Racing driver pass. Anyway, for a few years now, this has actually been against the rules of the sport.

Have you already ear-marked young talents to drive for your team in the future?
There are some promising drivers still coming through the Red Bull school. But we have no definite plans for the future. We are still at the start of our first season in Formula One and are concentrating fully on the drivers we have already.

Could Michael Schumacher drive for Red Bull next season?
Nothing is impossible in Formula One. However, Michael has always stated that he would end his driving career with Ferrari.

Could Red Bull’s Chief Technical Director Adrian Newey influence the Toro Rosso chassis?
I think that, for now, Adrian will have enough work to do concentrating on his own team! However, this does not mean that he can’t have some additional involvement with us in future, especially as from 2008, the rules will allow the sharing of technologies between teams.

Seen from the outside, what effect do you think Red Bull has had on Formula One?
In the early days of its involvement, it was seen pretty much as just another sponsor, but since it became a team owner in 2005, it has had a much bigger impact. The sport, although very interesting on the track, had lost some of its appeal away from it and I think Red Bull injected some fun back into the sport, while still showing it is serious about the racing.

Are you happy with the new rules introduced into Formula One this season?
The new qualifying format seems to provide more excitement for the fans than the one lap at a time version we had last year. It is more similar to the way qualifying was when I was racing, with all the cars on the track at the same time. But it is important that the system is explained properly to the fans. Generally, it looks like the races will be a bit tighter this year with more teams capable of winning, but not all of that is down to the new rules. It is too early in the season to talk about rule changes.

If you could make a wish for 2006, what would it be?
That Scuderia Toro Rosso has a good season and improves steadily throughout the year.