Red Bull backing for F1 team up nearly 50%

The energy drinks company Red Bull increased financial support to its Formula One operations by 47 per cent last year, according to the latest figures from its Milton Keynes-based racing team. Red Bull Technology received Â£85.6m from its parent company in 2006.

Capital expenditure increased by 45 per cent to Â£22.7m as the company invested in hi-tech plant, equipment and a freehold building in London's fashionable Soho Square for its marketing operations. Red Bull also has the most lavish motor home in the F1 paddock – a Â£5m three-storey structure with two bars, two terraces and a hydraulically operated roof. It is also the only team to print its own magazine at every race, believed to cost Â£3.5m a year.

The team's operating expenditure soared to Â£106.7m, with staff numbers rising 32 per cent to an all time high of 478. The design department got one of the biggest boosts with a 36 per cent increase in its numbers, while the R&D budget increased by over a third to Â£16.7m.

After-tax profit fell by Â£1m to Â£744,000 on turnover of Â£107m. This year the team, featuring drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber, improved by two places to finish fifth. The Independent