The mythical sponsors in F1

It’s impossible to avoid it when watching a race or even a practice or qualifying session. With their single-seaters adorned with all kinds of sponsors, Formula 1 teams are obliged to attract the public’The eye of the potential consumers, directly to the delight of their sponsors displayed in large on the multitudes of carbon parts of these super-powerful cars. A real dynamic display strategy, which pleases the biggest brands.

In Formula 1, only a few teams have managed to exist without financial sponsors, thanks to wealthy patrons in the past. Nowadays, this is simply not possible, so the ten teams on the grid in 2023 continue to court several leading companies for a significant financial input.

With the now traditional watch, digital and now cryptocurrency contracts, some categories of companies are well present in the paddock. However, in the past, some of these cars have been so original that they have become iconic.

Which companies have mythical partnerships with Formula 1 teams ?

Tooned – McLaren

In the early 2010s, McLaren produced a cartoon series called Tooned. Otherwise seen by the public as relatively cold, the team wanted to change the perception of the general public and in particular, the youngest.

During the first season linked to the creation of this series, which finally lasted nearly seven years, the duo led by world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton was logically transcribed on the screen with bonhomie. An ingenious idea that was also commercially used on some of the McLaren’s livery at that time, increasing the mythical aspect of this sponsoring agreement.

PokerStars – Red Bull

It’s not the oldest sponsor on this list, quite the opposite, but the poker platform has been one of the major players in the world of Formula 1 in recent years, if we look at the partnerships mentioned.

Indeed, PokerStars is the famous partner of the Red Bull Racing team. World champion driver and manufacturer this year, the team is led by Max Verstappen. The domination in the 2022 season was such that the popular poker platform was seen on screen for a long time and almost always in the lead.

Ocean’s Twelve – Jaguar

The mythical British racing team, now defunct after the purchase of its license by … Red Bull, had a knack for putting forward sponsorship contracts so atypical.

Indeed, the green single-seaters had taken the habit of displaying the names of large companies such as the famous HSBC bank in the 2000s, but sometimes, several contracts lasting only a few races, came to decorate the original appearance of the single-seaters.

Among them, we can mention the one with Ocean’s Twelve, the movie released in 2004. We know how ostentatious and excessive the F1 world can be. The example with this film is probably one of the most telling stories.

To promote the film, a real diamond worth 250,000 dollars was placed in the nose of Christian Klien’s car before the Monaco Grand Prix. The Austrian driver crashed on the first lap of the race, true to the reputation of the Grand Prix de la Principauté as a crash site. What about the diamond? ? Untraceable since !

Durex – Surtees

There are no small businesses, let alone small funds in F1 ! When Durex, the world’s leading condom company, agreed to sponsor Surtees, it was just business as usual.

If 1976 in F1 remains one of the most historic years with the unforgettable clash between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, many informed observers remember without a doubt this famous sponsor on the Surtees TS19. However, this could only come from the books across the Channel, since, the BBC refused to film these single-seaters on screen because of the sponsor. Another time..