Red Bull could also come to the rescue of Tonio Liuzzi’s flagging motor sport career.
Following Scott Speed’s earlier falling out with junior team Toro Rosso’s bosses, long time backer Red Bull vowed to help the 24-year-old Californian kick start a new career in NASCAR.
And Helmut Marko, who is Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand racing man, said he would now look into also trying to help Speed’s former STR teammate Liuzzi recover from his looming team exit.
Italian Liuzzi, 26, revealed recently that he is already talks with several formula one teams regarding 2008 and would not rule out stepping back into a testing-only role.
“I’m also looking to the USA, more at Champ Car than Indy,” he added.
The website of American broadcaster Speed TV, meanwhile, quotes Marko as saying: “Tonio, we don’t know what his perspectives are, and if we can help somewhere, or in another category, we will have a look at it.”
Liuzzi has been financially supported by Red Bull since 2001 but, unlike Speed, he is not otherwise contractually linked with the energy drink brand.
“Mine was a hybrid situation,” he explained. “Peter Collins, my manager, found in them a financial support, but we are independent in making choices.”