Red Bull backing for Formula One team up nearly 50%

By Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid

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 85.6m from its parent company in 2006.

Capital expenditure increased by 45 per cent to 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 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 3.5m a year.

The team's operating expenditure soared to 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 16.7m.

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

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