Mateschitz, Montezemolo, to join F1 board

Dietrich Mateschitz has announced that he will join F1’s board of directors once the sport is floated in Singapore.

It has been reported that, as part of Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren’s new Concorde Agreement deals, the three top teams have been promised places on F1’s decision-making executive board.

"If that is the case, I would go myself," energy drink mogul and billionaire Mateschitz said in an interview with Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

"And I would suppose that for Ferrari it would be Luca di Montezemolo himself," he added. "But it’s still in the deliberation phase."

According to the Reuters news agency, that phase might continue for some time, due to volatility in the financial markets.

"If the next two weeks are as bad as the last three, it will be unlikely it (the floatation) will go ahead this summer," an unnamed source said at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"If markets are on a negative trend every day, it’s hard to sell an IPO," he added.

More confident is Toto Wolff, the minor shareholder of the Williams team, who is tipped to one day replace team boss Sir Frank Williams.

Asked about F1’s planned IPO, the Austrian told Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "I would buy straight away."