EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Paul Stoddart.

Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps, and Paul Stoddart holds an impromptu gathering in the Minardi garage to tell his employees that the Red Bull deal had gone through. It was, by all accounts, an emotional moment for the battle-hardened Aussie, who received a round of applause from the crew. When he emerged, the first interview he gave was to Crash.net.

Q:
Was it hard to have to tell the guys that you'd sold the team?

Paul Stoddart:
More than hard, actually. If you feel you've done the wrong thing... to be honest, it's very, very sad. But I always said that, if somebody came along who could undoubtedly fund the team better, and look after and protect the workforce, I would sell. And that person has come along, despite the 40 that came before or after.

Q:
Can you believe that it's happened?

PS:
It probably hasn't sunk in with me yet. I've known for a long time that, this time round, there were too many people - there were no fewer than seven people carrying out active negotiations - so I suppose the law of odds said that something was going to happen. But it doesn't make it any easier when it happens. I just think that, if you look at the job that Red Bull has done this year, and if you look at the faces at Red Bull this year, so many of them are the same faces that have been there in Jaguar and even before. I'm placing my trust in Dietrich Mateschitz with the workforce.

Q:
What has been going on over the past week?

PS:
They've been carrying out due diligence all week. It's fair to say that, in the end, I knew there was nothing to find anyway. It was probably always going to happen, but I couldn't say anything until it did.

Q:
Have you got a fair price for it, bearing in mind how much you've pumped in over the years?

PS:
Yes, I have actually. I have done alright.

Q:
Is this the end of you in F1?

PS:
I hope not. It's too early to say really.

Q:
But are there any plans for you to stay on for a while?

PS:
Whether I stay on as a consultant or not remains to be seen. That's purely a question for Red Bull. I'm available, put it that way.