Former Scuderia Toro Rosso part-owner Gerhard Berger claims that he will be back in F1 sooner than later.

Berger has said that he could make a Formula 1 return with an official post down the road, despite ending his partnership with Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

The ex-racer, who had a 50% stake in the team until Mateschitz bought him out, revealed that he would have love to stay with the STR programme, but could not raise the funds after attempts to rope in investors came up short.

Berger also went on record saying that Mateschitz plans to put Toro Rosso on sale should the ruling on 'customer cars' go against the Italian team. Toro Rosso's STR3 is a close ‘cousin' of Red Bull's RB4, having both been designed by Adrian Newey, and had their parts made by Red Bull Technologies, making it difficult to carry on should any future ban on teams using the same car arise.

"I would have gladly continued with Toro Rosso, but I could not finance it by myself," Berger said in an interview. "The necessary conditions to make the next step are no longer there, and it has never been my style just to be here for the sake of it."

"Without Red Bull, I see no chance of moving forward in F1, and I don't want to take a step backwards after what we have achieved this season. For me, there is no alternative, except possibly a strong car manufacturer [as partner] but F1 has not yet realised that, below the manufacturers, there is no basis for running a team. Last year, just three new sponsors came in, and were all business-to-business models. For the back of the grid teams, there is almost nothing."

Berger's quotes hint at Mateschitz's preparation to sell Toro Rosso should the ‘customer car' ruling go against the team, a move that could potentially leave the top flight of racing with just nine teams. Mateschitz has countered that rumour, saying that he will remain committed to his second team through to the end of the 2009 season, after which all teams are likely to have to build their own cars.

"From 2010, Toro Rosso must be a designer, that is develop and build its own cars," Berger confirmed, "That will require even higher investment in spite of the cost-cutting measures currently being talked about in F1. From that viewpoint, it has to be believed that, if Didi Mateschitz can no longer supply two teams from one technology pool, the sale of Toro Rosso is very likely."

There are rumours swirling that Berger and Mateschitz could not agree on the future of Red Bull's second team, with the Red Bulls supremo keen to rope in Takuma Sato to replace Sebastien Bourdais, and possibly swap Toro Rosso's Ferrari engine supply back to the senior Red Bull Racing team, which was overshadowed by the Faenza outfit as it struggled to generate the same sort of pace from its Renault V8s.

Despite bowing out of Formula 1, Berger is adamant that he will return to action soon. Prior to taking up the reins at Toro Rosso, the Austrian had been involved with BMW's return to F1 with Williams, and has also been a commentator for the sport.

"Don't worry," said the 49-year-old. "It is quite possible that I will be back some day."