From the hazy, heady days of tobacco giants to the cryptic crypto currency courtships of recent years, Formula 1 has always relied on sponsorship revenue for a significant slice of the funding required to go racing.
Ask any fan what their favourite car is, or who they feel is the greatest driver of all time, and the picture they paint will invariably contain a detailed description of the livery linked to the team or individual of the era.
Since 1968, teams have devoted certain sections of their cars to be emblazoned with sponsorship decals and fill up the coffers in the process.
Tobacco advertising went hand-in-hand with a boom period for the world championship but, even when it started to be slowly banned across the world, F1 teams would simply hint at their smoking sponsors in regions where their cars could no longer bear the name of their most prominent backers.
Think Jordan’s ‘Buzzing Hornets’ or McLaren replacing the cigarette brand West with the names of their drivers – fans still knew that as Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard roared past, ‘Mika’ or ‘David’ were placeholders for the true sponsor.
Money makes the world go round, as well as F1 cars, but sponsorship deals have moved on to become symbiotic partnerships aligned to achieve the best outcome for the team and, as a result, for the brands now so deeply associated with them.
“With these really important partnerships like Komatsu, it is much more than the stickers on the car; it is making sure that we really bring great value to the partnership,” Williams chief HR officer Ann Perrins told Autosport during the recent launch of the Komatsu Williams Engineering Academy, the two entities coming together to support the finest up-and-coming STEM minds across the world.
Where once tobacco sponsorship reserved space on F1 cars, today teams seek partners that can improve their performance
Photo by: Sutton Images
Partnerships are now more popular than sponsorships. Whereas teams in past years would happily take money to plaster logos over their cars, overalls and peripherals, now they want deals that can help them in their quest to move up the grid.
That means getting the right fit is more important than ever as Marc Cutler, head of communications at sports marketing agency Right Formula, explains.
“[F1] has never been more popular in terms of brands wanting to get involved; what that has meant is that there are more brands involved in the sport…
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