Ferrari rejected several offers to purchase Racing Bulls before Red Bull swooped in 2005

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Red Bull have been in a unique position on the F1 grid for over 20 years now, due to the fact that they share owners with Racing Bulls, who are considered the Austrian constructors ‘B-team’.

The name of Red Bull’s sister team has changed several times since the Austrian constructor purchased the now-defunct Minardi Formula 1 outfit in 2005, starting out as Toro Rosso before being rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020 and its current iteration of Racing Bulls in 2024.

It has housed pretty much every future Red Bull driver since the team’s inception, except for a few outliers in the cases of David Coulthard and Sergio Perez.

Future F1 world champions like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel honed their craft at the Faenza-based outfit before their promotion, and the team have had some exceptional moments, including multiple race wins and several podiums.

However, it all could have been very different if Ferrari had taken a request from one F1 team owner seriously.

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Giancarlo Minardi reveals that he suggested that Ferrari buy his Formula 1 team ‘several times’ in the 1990s

During a recent appearance on the Fuori Campo Parole di Sport podcast, former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi revealed that he had been in talks with Ferrari numerous times over a potential deal for the Minardi F1 outfit to become a ‘B team’ for them.

The legendary F1 figure is renowned for his eye for scouting talented drivers in the early stages of their career, with Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli all making their debuts with the Italian’s team.

Minardi spoke of his suggestions to Ferrari over a deal candidly, saying, “There was a time when Italy had more Formula 1 teams until 2005.

“In addition to Ferrari, there was an Italian team called Minardi that often invested in drivers who did not have the budget to race in Formula 1.

“This led to the promotion of drivers who we then had later on and who did well in covered wheels, as they are doing well today in open wheels. I sat in the team for a dollar to save 130 families.

“I took a risk, but I also enjoyed myself, and I had drivers who made history, at least in Italian motor racing and absolutely in world motor racing too.

“Unfortunately, there is an Italian team called Racing Bulls, because, as you know, it is Italian, but it is a branch.

“It is the B team that I had suggested several times in the 1990s to Ferrari, a B team that develops not only drivers but also technicians and engineers, as happened in those years.”

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Red Bull rejected an offer regarding the sale of Racing Bulls during the 2025 F1 season

Red Bull’s ownership of Racing Bulls has drawn criticism in the past, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown highlighting the relationship between the two teams as a concern for the sport’s integrity.

His comments came during the 2024 season, and it emerged during the following year that Red Bull had rejected a £1.1 billion offer from an unknown buyer.

Red Bull are understood not to be interested at all in selling Racing Bulls, with the advantages of having two separate teams on the grid being a massive advantage in their year-on-year balance sheets.

Formula 1 is growing exponentially with every passing year, and with the sport currently in the midst of a global boom, it’s no wonder that they are sceptical about selling up too early.