Minardi not for sale

Despite some rumors, Minardi boss Paul Stoddart says his Minardi team is not on the market. The only reason he might change his mind is if a car manufacturer or a "serious, serious person" emerges as a buyer. "As a (backmarker) team owner you have approaches – at least one a month," Stoddart told website crash.net. "I count mine and I'm on number 27 – frankly, most of them don't have the legs to run anywhere. "To be honest, I simply don't want to sell the team. "At the moment I'm hopeful that Eddie will be the next one, if there is going to be another team to be sold. "I think he's made it pretty clear that he wants to sell. "I'm quite happy to take the next three years, the last three years of the Concorde Agreement (under which teams participate in F1) and run them out and see what kind of a deal comes forward," Stoddart said. "Now that's a completely different situation to saying would I sell the team to a manufacturer or a serious, serious person came along who could take the team further and better than I can. "Categorically, yes, my interests are in the long-term health of Minardi, not in any short-term gains." Stoddart said.