Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger thinks it would be a good idea for VW to enter Formula 1 through a partnership with Red Bull. Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger thinks it would be a good idea for VW to enter Formula 1 through a partnership with Red Bull.

Gerhard Berger thinks an Audi buyout of Red Bull represents the team’s best chance of challenging Mercedes as he doubts that current engine partner Renault can catch up.

A link-up between the German manufacturer and the former world champions has been rumoured for some time now, even though parties on both sides have repeatedly denied that it might happen.

Yet the subject remains a hot topic of debate – particularly after the ousting of Ferdinand Piech as chairman of the Volkswagen Group, Audi’s parent company, last month.

Piech was seen as the barrier to any F1 involvement by Audi, but following his departure Berger reckons they would serve Red Bull better than Renault have been doing.

“I would say there is a lot of discussion and I also think it would be a fantastic relationship because we still see a very competitive Red Bull team which has won four world championships in the last years,” the 10-time GP winner told Sky F1 at the Spanish GP on Friday. “So there’s a lot of potential ready to go.

“On the other side, we have with Volkswagen a group that is a premium brand with technical resources that would be able to fight with Mercedes.

“Mercedes in the last two years has just put the game up three steps and Renault just didn’t invest.

“I doubt that they’re going to be able to catch up. But somebody like Volkswagen, fresh coming in, I think they would and I’m sure that would be a good story for Red Bull.”

Berger’s opinion carries some weight because he’s a close associate of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

The 55-year-old Austrian was the first sportsman to receive backing from the energy drinks firm back in the mid-1980s and between them the pair owned Toro Rosso between 2006 and 2008.

Berger was recently replaced as president of the FIA’s Single-Seater Commission by former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, who has also worked as a consultant for VW/Audi in recent months and apparently recommended that it takes over Red Bull.

Speaking after their disappointing showing in the Australian GP, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko suggested that Mateschitz might consider selling up.

However, team boss Christian Horner denied that was the case and although Red Bull and Renault engaged in a war of words after the Melbourne race, relations between the two have appeared on a sounder footing more recently.