Ferrari engines? Possibly, the Italian powerplants certainly had an advantage over Renault at the end of 2008 if you believe Flavio Briatore. Although it does seem rather a very high price to pay, especially if there’s to be some sort of engine equalisation for 2009. Although the 2009 Red Bull could be adapted reasonably easily it’s still not ideal to change engine dimensions so late on – and there are also things like KERS to consider. With the design for 2009 so far advanced it would seem like a lot of disruption at high cost for very little benefit.

Access to some of STR’s top personnel? Again, a very high price to pay and would it really require a change of ownership? Probably not, Red Bull could simply make the relevant people a better offer. Besides, slick F1 teams are not simply created by putting a load of good people in the same building overnight. It takes time and effort to ensure that the right people are doing the right job with the right support – and that they’re all working together seamlessly. Just look at the first incarnation of BAR or Jaguar. Again, much disruption at high cost for little immediate benefit, if any.

Neither of the above would make STR a more appealing sale prospect – a team stripped of its best assets wouldn’t be a particularly attractive prospect for any buyer.

Money? Probably. Sebastien Bourdais has suggested that STR is looking for extra cash for 2009, hence testing Takuma Sato who would presumably have come as a pay driver. If the rumours about Red Bull wanting Sebastian Buemi in the car for 2009 are true then perhaps the price was buying Gerhard Berger out of his stake. Sponsorship and/or financing isn’t easy to come by at present and Berger probably wasn’t in a position to fund it without dipping into his own cash.

I’d be surprised to see a Red Bull-Ferrari on the grid for 2009.

Looking from a buyer’s point of view; He/She won’t get a F1 team at a cheaper cost than now, because of the liquidity crunch.

Also; everything seems to be falling into Vettel’s hands now. Chance to make the car fully suitable to himself; thanks to an injured team-mate. Personnel from the STR team as well now. And possibly the Ferrari engines too. He should be a major force next year; I reckon.

The new rules leave no room for improvement for a small team as STR. Also, Dietrich’s interest will focus on Red Bull Racing, therefore the support for STR will become smaller and prevent the team from improving further from sixth. I don’t want to decline, that is not in my nature.

I also wonder what Gerhard Berger’s position will be… if any at all.

About it being too late for Red Bull to switch engines, that’s probably not true, since Adrian Newey will design the RB5/STR4 for both engines anyway.

Off-topic: talk about reading stuff out of context: I read the following phrase when scanning the article…

Renault is to take over Toro Rosso

I was suggesting that it’s a bit late to switch engines, given that the cars for next year are already in production. Sure, the RBR and STR have effectively the same car, but the installation of the engine and KERS will vary, and I think to consider switching engines at this stage would be something of a handicap for next year, especially as testing is about to be drastically reduced.