Minardi to keep Italian base

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has no intention of running his Formula One team solely from England.

The Australian, who saved the Italian team from bankruptcy last year, plans on continuing to operate from Faenza and Ledbury in Gloucestershire.

“To be honest, when I first bought the team I thought perhaps after a couple of years I might relocate it to England just from a logistics point of view,” said Stoddart.

“But I very quickly discovered that the best asset that I bought was the actual workforce.

“They are so dedicated and so professional, and there is absolutely no chance of us relocating from Faenza.

“We’ve got a dedicated team of people that produce miracles on the budget that they are given and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”