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Paul Stoddart | |
|---|---|
 Stoddart at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix | |
| Born | 26 May 1955 |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman and former Formula One Team owner |
| Known for | Minardi European Aviation OzJet |
Paul Gerard Stoddart [1] (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss.
Born in Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and St Joseph's College Melbourne. Stoddart's first business was a car dealership. [2] He was later based in England and was the Yugo car distributor for the UK and also had a hire car detailing business in Manchester detailing the ex-hire cars before sale to the public. [3]
In late 1989, Stoddart purchased two BAC 1-11 aircraft and three Falcon 20 business jets (and a large assortment of spare parts for both aircraft) from the Royal Australian Air Force's 'VIP Squad' (the Canberra-based No 34 SQN). Stoddart formed European Aviation, hired Trevor Whetter from British Aerospace as his Managing Director and sold the BAC 1-11 aircraft to Okada Air in Nigeria. Following discussions with British Airways, Stoddart purchased 16 aircraft, and following Dan Air's absorption into British Airways, the airline was formed in 1994. [4]
Stoddart and European Aviation made the news in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Airbus A340 aircraft, acquired from Etihad Airways and owned by Stoddart's business were used to transport PPE from China and Malaysia back to the UK. [5] [6] [7] [8]
In 2005, Stoddart formed OzJet an Australian based, all business class airline. He wanted to challenge Qantas who at the time were the only domestic carrier with this luxury option. The airline flew with three Boeing 737 aircraft that had 60 seats. It was not a commercial success, and in March 2006 Stoddart cancelled its commercial service and turned it into a charter airline. In 2009, OzJet was sold to Strategic Airlines. [9] [10]
In 1996, Stoddart purchased a 1990 Tyrrell 019 Formula One car. During this time, he connected with Rupert Mainwaring the team manager at Tyrrell. In 1997, Stoddart sponsored the team with his company, European Aviation, appearing on the front wing of the car and in 1998 the rear. Stoddart's relationship with owner Ken Tyrrell grew, and the two were discussing building a wind tunnel at Stoddart's base at Bournemouth Airport. [11] Tyrrell was lining up the sale of the team to Stoddart and in 1997, a deal of $25 million was almost agreed upon. [12] However, British American Tobacco ultimately would purchase Tyrrell and enter the 1999 season as British American Racing. [13] Stoddart purchased a volume of Tyrrell cars and equipment and moved them to his base in Ledbury, Herefordshire. [14]
In 1999, European Aviation sponsored the Jordan Grand Prix team. There was speculation he would purchase a minority shareholding in the team from owner Eddie Jordan. [15]
European Aviation moved on to sponsor Arrows in 2000 and his European Racing became the Arrows Junior Team, with driver Mark Webber. [16]
In 2001, Stoddart purchased Minardi when Gabriele Rumi sold the team to him prior to the 2001 Formula One Season. [17] [18] From purchase to the first race the team completed the PS01 in six weeks. The car was emblazoned with European Aviation sponsorship and used an uprated version of the 2000 Minardi Fondmetal V10. [19] [20] Whilst perennial backmarkers, during 2001 future world champion Fernando Alonso drove for the team and was rated highly. [21] In 2002, Stoddart hired Australian Mark Webber who scored points on his debut at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. [22]
Finances were always a challenge for the team, as was sponsorship. In 2003, Formula One owner Bernie Ecclestone invested $4 million into the struggling team. [23] Wilux became a lead sponsor in 2004, however terminated their agreement after they were not told the team would run without logos at the 2004 British Grand Prix. [24] [25] [26] Stoddart had elected to run blank cars due to the death of Minardi sporting director John Walton. [27] In 2005, the team was sponsored by another Stoddart firm—OzJet. [28] One of the team's greatest successes under Stoddart's ownership would come at the 2005 United States Grand Prix where just six cars competed—Minardi scoring 7 points with both cars finishing. [29] [30]
Throughout his ownership, Stoddart regularly campaigned for budget caps and greater consideration of financial incentives to smaller teams like his own. This included a public battle with McLaren boss Ron Dennis. [31] [32] [33] When Eddie Jordan sold Jordan Grand Prix to Alex Shnaider in 2005, Stoddart expressed concerns for his team's future. [34] [35] On 12 September 2005, Stoddart announced that he had sold the team to Red Bull Racing owner Dietrich Mateschitz who subsequently rebranded the team as Toro Rosso.
In March 2006, less than a year after selling his team to Red Bull, Stoddart announced his intentions to return the Minardi name to Formula One after lodging an entry with the FIA for the 2008 championship season. [36] However, rival entry Prodrive were awarded the 12th and final place on the grid (which they ultimately did not use). [37]
With the new F1 management wanting to expand the F1 experience for fans, starting from the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix Stoddart is offering fans the ability to ride in one of his Minardi Fx2 cars. [38]
In December 2006 Stoddart purchased the CTE-HVM ChampCar team which he renamed Minardi Team USA. [39] The team was successful, with Robert Doornbos finishing third overall and taking the Rookie of the Year honours. [40] However, a month before the 2008 season, ChampCar was absorbed by the rival Indy Racing League. Although enthusiastic about the future of the series, Stoddart opted not to enter it, fearing that he and the other ex-ChampCar teams would be unable to be competitive. [41] However, the half of the team owned by Keith Wiggins continued on as HVM Racing in the IRL.
Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans. In 2001, to save the team from folding, Minardi sold it to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, who ran the team for five years before selling it on to Red Bull GmbH in 2005 who renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso. Initially called "M" then a number, from 2001, all of Minardi chassis were called "PS", the PS being the initials of team owner, Paul Stoddart.
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from 1978 to 2002. It was known as Footwork from 1991 to 1996.
Midland F1 Racing was a Formula One constructor and racing team which competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. The team was created by the renaming of Jordan Grand Prix after its purchase by Canadian businessman, and owner of the Midland Group, Alex Shnaider. The team was licensed as the first Russian Formula One team, although it continued to be based in the United Kingdom, at Jordan's Silverstone factory. Towards the end of the 2006 season, the team was sold to Spyker Cars N.V.; the team raced in its last three Grands Prix under the official name Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1.
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Johannes Franciscus Verstappen is a Dutch retired racing driver who competed in Formula One for Benetton, Simtek, Footwork Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart, and Minardi. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different teams during eight seasons. From 1994 through 2003, he scored two podium finishes in his career, the first Dutch F1 racer to do so.
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Patrick Friesacher is an Austrian racing driver. He is the longest-serving Red Bull driver, and also drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.
European Aviation Air Charter was an airline based in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. It operated ad hoc charter services, VIP flights, and inclusive-tour and sub-charter flights, as well as ACMI wet leases for other airlines. Its main base was Bournemouth Airport. The company went into administration on Tuesday 2 December 2008.
The Minardi M02 was the car with which the Minardi Formula One team competed in the 2000 Formula One World Championship.
The Tyrrell 026 was the car with which the Tyrrell team competed in the 1998 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Brazilian Ricardo Rosset and Japanese rookie Toranosuke Takagi, and was the final Tyrrell car to compete in F1.
The Minardi M198 was the car with which the Minardi team competed in the 1998 Formula One World Championship.
The Tyrrell 025 was the car with which the Tyrrell team competed in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Finn Mika Salo, who was in his third season with the team, and Dutchman Jos Verstappen, who moved from Footwork.
The Arrows A22 was the car with which the Arrows team competed in the 2001 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Dutchman Jos Verstappen, who was in his second year with the team, and Enrique Bernoldi, a Brazilian rookie who brought sponsorship from Red Bull, at the expense of Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa who was unexpectedly dropped shortly before the season started.
The Minardi M193 was a Formula One car designed by Aldo Costa and Gustav Brunner and built by Minardi for the 1993 Formula One season. The car was powered by the Ford HBD V8 engine and ran on Goodyear tyres. Drivers of the car included Christian Fittipaldi, Martini and former Ferrari driver and 5 time grand prix winner Michele Alboreto. Using the M193, Minardi scored 7 points to finish 8th in the 1993 Constructors' Championship.
The Minardi PS03 was the car with which the Minardi team competed in the 2003 Formula One World Championship.
Formula One sponsorship liveries have been used since the 1968 season. Before the arrival of sponsorship liveries in 1968 the nationality of the team determined the colour of a car entered by the team, e.g. cars entered by Italian teams were rosso corsa red, cars entered by French teams were bleu de France blue, and cars entered by British teams were British racing green. Major sponsors such as BP, Shell, and Firestone had pulled out of the sport ahead of this season, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to allow unrestricted sponsorship.
The Arrows A23 is a Formula One racing car, used by the Arrows team during the 2002 Formula One season. It was designed by Mike Coughlan, Sergio Rinland and Nicolò Petrucci with engines supplied by Jaguar-works Cosworth customer rather than the Asiatech unit used in the previous year's Arrows A22.
The Minardi PS02 was the car with which the Minardi team competed in the 2002 Formula One World Championship.
The Minardi PS05 is a Formula One racing car used by Minardi F1 Team during the 2005 season. It failed to be much of an improvement over its predecessor, as the team finished last in the standings for the third consecutive season. The car was launched on 15 April 2005 at Mugello in Italy.
European was a brand of Formula One engines. European sponsored Minardi in the 2001 season and acted as the engine supplier to the team. The engines were Ford-built engines, branded as European.
