Mateschitz justifies changes

Former chiefs Tony Purnell and David Pitchforth - who had been widely praised for stabilising the Jaguar team and reviving its fortunes after three turbulent seasons - were replaced by Arden International's Christian Horner and ex-Jaguar man Gunther Steiner, who had most recently been employed on Opel's DTM project.

Mateschitz claimed that the change in management was an inevitable consequence of his aspirations for RBR.

"The fact is that if you want a significant change in the performance of the team then you have to make a significant change in its structure," he said. "This is one of the measures needed to move the team forwards."

When Mateschitz acquired Jaguar Racing in November 2004 he had suggested that there would not be any high profile staff changes and that the existing management structure would remain for RBR's inaugural season. The team has already signed David Coulthard as a race driver for 2005 and is set to choose between Christian Klien and Formula 3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi for the second race seat.