Paul Stoddart

Australian aviation entrepreneur who owned and ran the Minardi team from 2001 until its sale to Red Bull in 2005

Paul Stoddart

Australian aviation entrepreneur who owned and ran the Minardi team from 2001 until its sale to Red Bull in 2005

Paul Stoddart, born in Coburg near Melbourne, started with a car dealership and made his fortune in aviation after buying two BAC 1 11 airliners and three Falcon business jets from Australia's air force in 1989. His European Aviation sponsored Tyrrell and then Arrows, where he ran Mark Webber in the junior team.

In 2001 he bought Minardi from Gabriele Rumi, and his team built the PS01 in six weeks. That year a young Fernando Alonso drove for him, and in 2002 Mark Webber scored points on his debut. Stoddart campaigned loudly for budget caps and a fairer deal for small teams, and on the 12th of September 2005 he sold Minardi to Dietrich Mateschitz, who renamed it Toro Rosso. An airline owner understands the economics of running on thin margins better than most.

Teams led

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