Ecclestone Yet to Invest Cash in Minardi

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has yet to invest any of his money in Minardi despite being announced as a shareholder in June, team boss Paul Stoddart said today.

"Bernie's influence has helped the team...and although he hasn't invested any actual money that's largely because the team has actually improved its position since Canada in terms of sponsorship," Stoddart said at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"But certainly having Bernie in the background has done no harm at all."

Stoddart said in Montreal in June that Ecclestone had joined Minardi as a shareholder after the struggling team, who have not scored any points this year, painted a bleak picture of their Formula One future.

There have since been rumours that Formula One's commercial boss has been brokering a deal for investors to take over the team. Most recently, the Ecclestone-owned Formula One magazine quoted Giancarlo Fisichella's manager Enrico Zanarini as suggesting a group of north Italian investors were interested in buying the team.

"I knew Bernie and I knew the representative so all I did was introduce them, but I have absolutely nothing else to do with it," he said.

Stoddart said there was nothing at the moment.

"Most of the teams have a silly season over drivers, Minardi and sometimes Jordan seem to have silly seasons over investors and ownership," the Australian aviation entrepreneur told a news conference. "I've made no secret of the fact that if the right deal came along that I felt could take Minardi further than I could then I'd be interested in it.

"But thus far we've just had a lot of time wasters and one or two individuals that perhaps were serious but for one reason or another have not chosen to go forward," he added.