Liuzzi says he felt “privileged” to drive for the team formerly known as Minardi, “But we didn’t know the project at the time: to have Red Bull as the main team and Toro Rosso as the B-Team.”Įven though Red Bull offered Liuzzi a test driver seat for 2008, he explains in no uncertain terms that he was “too pissed off with how they handled the situation” to accept it.Ĭameos in A1 Grand Prix and the Speedcar Series followed, but Liuzzi wanted to get back to F1, and a test driver role did end up being his return ticket in 2008 with Force India, whose then-Team Principal Colin Kolles was a backer of Liuzzi's junior career. “He told me: ‘Don’t worry, we really believe you can be our future, and we don’t want to stop your growth, so just wait one more year and next year you’re going to have a full car for a full season’.” READ MORE: ‘He helped to transform our sport’ – F1 paddock pays tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz
I decided to step out and Didi himself, he came to me and said, ‘Don’t worry, we are planning to buy another team, an Italian team, and I would like to make you as a first driver with a fully Italian brand.
“The plan was to have four races for Klien, four for me, four for him… but after the first swap, we realised it was not good for him, nor for me. The 2005 season would see David Coulthard take the first seat at Red Bull with rookie Liuzzi and ex-Jaguar driver Christien Klien sharing the second seat – in a plan that was somewhat freeform, according to the Italian. It’s a big shame, and a big loss for the world of motorsport, and at the end of the day, he gave a big chance to drivers who are still in the paddock right now.” Every time we were together, it was like he was a father to me. He’s a real person – when you are somebody like him, so big, with such a position, it’s not easy to have a connection – but he was so real and so passionate about what he was doing, not only in Formula 1 but in taking care of every person in the company. “I think he was one of the nicest people I ever met.
READ MORE: Remembering Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s quiet patriarch Sauber seemed to be Liuzzi’s chance at F1 but just before the Italian was due to test with the team in September 2004, Jacques Villeneuve was announced as their driver for the following season – “a shame”, says Liuzzi, who was then offered a lifeline.īrand-new outfit Red Bull offered him a seat for 2005 instead, and Liuzzi says the company’s co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz was "like a father” to him.
Finishing fourth in his maiden F3000 Championship, Liuzzi was picked up by Red Bull and moved to the Christian Horner-founded Arden squad for 2004, where he won all but three of 10 races to take the title – with rivals like Robert Doornbos, Jose Maria Lopez and Patrick Friesacher in the field.
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