FEBRUARY 25, 2007

Oh yes, and Toro Rosso confirms Speed

The Red Bull philosophy of guerrilla marketing may work in the bars and clubs, where the Austrian drink sells well to the younger generations, but in Formula 1 circles some of the antics sometimes pass way over the heads of the F1 crowd. A case in point is the announcement - or perhaps one should say the non-announcement - that Scott Speed is staying with the team in 2007. This came as a one-liner at the end of the Sakhir testing report on Saturday afternoon, at a time that was pretty much guaranteed to get as little coverage as possible.

Whether this tactic was adopted because it was "cool" and will sell more drink or whether the team does not want the world to know it is running the only American driver in F1 is a mystery.

Anyway, the point is that the Formula 1 grid is now, finally, filled for this season and the only thing we now wait to see is the colour of the new Honda (green) and whether or not any of the teams will take the opportunity of a PR stunt and announce an Oompa-Loompa as the third (fourth or fifth) driver before the season begins.

None of this will make the cars go any faster.