Red Bull Boss Thankful to Wirdheim

Red Bull Racing's managing director Dave Pitchforth was thankful to Swede Bjorn Wirdheim for his work after the former F3000 champion left the team after being told he did not figure in their plans.

"I would like to thank Bjorn for all of his help and support for the team over the last year, and wish him the best of luck in the future," said Pitchforth in a statement where the team confirmed Wirdheim's exit.

Jaguar were bought by Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of the Red Bull energy drink company, this month after previous owners Ford decided to quit the sport. Wirdheim, the 2003 Formula 3000 champion, had been due to take over from Vitantonio Liuzzi at the Barcelona tests today and also to run in Jerez next week.

The highly-rated Italian, runaway winner of this year's Formula 3000 title, is likely to drive for Red Bull in some capacity next year and will continue to test alongside Austrian Christian Klien.

The Swede recently tested for the U.S. Champ Car team PKV Racing and will test for them again in December.