Dec.12 (GMM) Team boss Christian Horner has moved to play down speculation the energy drink company Red Bull's two formula one teams could follow Honda out of the sport on the back of the global financial crisis.
In the wake of the struggling Japanese automaker Honda's decision to quit, Red Bull issued a worrying statement revealing that "other race teams are having similar thoughts".And with Gerhard Berger recently selling back his 50 per cent share in Toro Rosso back to Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz, it was rumoured that the move could be designed to simplify the potential sale of the teams.But Horner told F1's official website that Red Bull is in a strong financial situation, even in light of its new 100 per cent ownership of a second team."The funding of Toro Rosso has always been fully provided by Red Bull, so therefore the 100 per cent takeover has no foreseen impact on Red Bull Racing," he said.He also played down the relevance of comparing Red Bull's situation - with a company funded by sales of a beverage - with the global slump in sales of new cars."Thankfully a can of Red Bull doesn't cost the same as a car, so people are still buying and enjoying the product during these times!" Horner said.