Red Bull confirms Minardi take-over.

As has been rumoured since Crash.net broke the idea during the Italian Grand Prix, drinks brand Red Bull has completed its take-over of the Minardi team.

An agreement, announced after qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, has been reached for Red Bull GmbH to acquire all company shares in the Minardi team from 1 November 2005, assuming full responsibility for the running of the team, which will be positioned as a 'rookie team' in order to bring on more of the company's prot?g?s from feeder series.

As a result of the purchase, Red Bull has suddenly gone from mere sponsor to having the biggest presence on the Formula One grid, following its purchase of the former Jaguar Racing team from Ford at the start of the season. Despite now running two teams in the top flight, however, the company insists that there will be no collusion between its squads, which will operate independently of one another and compete against each other on the track.

Dietrich Mateschitz's company has long backed young driving talent, most noticeably from Germany and Austria and, latterly, in the United States. As a result, it has a lot of drivers looking to break into Formula One, and this is the first intent to be fulfilled by the Minardi purchase. Having considered placing its young stars in other teams as an alternative to buying a second squad, however, acquiring Minardi appeared the better option.

In addition to finding an outlet for its talent bank, Red Bull also claims that, in the current situation, a second team would be able to maintain its current assets, while also being able to generate its own income in the future, effectively becoming almost self-financing.

Finally, by buying Minardi, Red Bull gains a second vote in any matters raised regarding the future of Formula One, interestingly making the balance of power a little more even between those teams siding with Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA, and those running with the proposed manufacturer breakaway. Minardi owner Paul Stoddart was firmly in the latter camp - despite being the only team without a manufacturer engine in 2005 - but Red Bull Racing has already aligned itself with the establishment following its engine deal with Ferrari, and the second string squad is expected to follow suit, making the split 6-4 in favour of the manufacturers.

Naturally, the list of Red Bull-backed drivers on the verge of F1 drives will serve to create enough publicity for the new operation in coming weeks, but a team spokesman has insisted that no decisions have been taken as regards the name of the team, its management or any drivers. However, if Christian Klien is retained to partner David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing next season, Vitantonio Liuzzi is now to be expected at the 'junior' team, possibly alongside American GP2 standout Scott Speed, who recently signed a testing contract with RBR.