Amid Components 1’s rising recognition, the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo group is an efficient case examine for sponsor attraction, with a complete of 32 new companions becoming a member of the group to this point this season.
Twenty-six of these have ‘official companion’ standing, with the opposite six break up between suppliers (ASSOS, Ferrari Trento and Protech) and expertise companions (Rosler, EOS and SAP). Amid that speak of F1 being in a brand new golden period when it comes to curiosity and funding, Alfa Romeo has been very busy.
You may marvel why a group with so many sponsors continues to be working below the fee cap – maybe by as a lot as $10million given the current enhance to deal with inflation and rising prices. However amount of sponsors doesn’t essentially correlate to general revenue, partly as a result of not all partnerships are outright money offers, partly as a result of the group has a few non-profit companions in charity companion Save the Kids (a deal agreed in 2019) and PATH, and partly as a result of some partnerships are service-based.
What’s extra, whereas there was a time within the producer period early within the century when there was an unofficial accord that no person would provide house on the automobile for lower than $5m, issues are very completely different in the present day.
However it’s a signal of the extent of curiosity there’s in F1, as is the truth that visitor passes and paddock membership slots are presently at a premium. And Alfa Romeo’s portfolio of recent companions contains the extra conventional expertise companions and corporations similar to Riot Timepieces, in addition to the form of cryptocurrency and metaverse firms which have change into standard in F1 and different championships/sports activities not too long ago.
Alfa Romeo’s new offers for 2022
| Accomplice | Sector |
| AMX | Dairy merchandise |
| Aximtrade | Monetary providers |
| Camozzi | Manufacturing |
| DRF Bets | Betting |
| Everdome | Metaverse |
| Floki | Cryptocurrency |
| Hyland | Cloud sevices |
| Modere | Well being and wellness |
| PATH | Healthcare |
| Riot Timepieces | Watches |
| Seagate | Information storage |
| Sensetime | AI software program |
| Vauld | Monetary providers |
| Internet eyewear | Eyewear |
| WhistlePIg | Whisky |
| Z Capital Group | Enterprise Capital |
| Cielo | Ceramics |
| Ciesse Piumini | Clothes |
| Curam Domi | Residential care |
| Delsey | Baggage |
| Georg Fischer | Manufacturing |
| JigSpace | AR software program |
| Puma | Sportswear |
| REPX | Fintech |
| Sabalt | Automotive security tools |
| Suppliers | |
| ASSOS | Sportswear |
| Ferrari Trento | Glowing wine |
| Protec | Automobile care |
| Expertise companions | |
| AM Options | 3D Printing |
| EOS | Manufacturing options |
| SAP | Software program |
So why has Alfa Romeo been so prolific in buying sponsors? There are a selection of things at play, which incorporates the arrival of Zhou Guanyu – China’s first F1 race driver – and the rising recognition of F1 around the globe.
“It’s a mix,” stated Alfa Romeo group principal Frederic Vasseur when requested in regards to the causes for the inflow of recent companions.
“For positive we’ve got the Zhou impact and we’ve got been in a position to appeal to new sponsors as a result of Zhou is there.
“However I’d say that it’s not too many Chinese language companions. We had extra European firms who wish to develop one thing in China than Chinese language firms who wish to be a part of F1.
“We signed our first Chinese language sponsor [during the season] not too long ago, which is an efficient step. However so long as you don’t have the race in China it’s tough.
“The principle impact is F1 going up in all places, for everyone so the impression is greater. Now we have an honest variety of new US sponsors.”
The primary new Chinese language sponsor Vasseur refers to is Sensetime, a Hong Kong primarily based AI software program firm. It joins Chinese language dairy firm AMX, which was introduced as a companion earlier than the beginning of the season, within the group’s portfolio.
It’s additionally essential to notice that F1 introduced in Beijing-based pc producer Lenovo as a sponsor for 2022. Whereas Lenovo has been a sponsor in F1 earlier than with Williams and McLaren, its return was primarily all the way down to the arrival of Zhou. So whereas Zhou hasn’t immediately introduced numerous Chinese language firms into F1, his presence has a transparent impression, one which will likely be augmented by the deliberate return of the race in Shanghai subsequent yr.
Apparently, Vasseur additionally identified the rising curiosity amongst American sponsors. Previously, the curiosity from the US was extra for B2B causes, however the recognition progress of F1 within the nation that’s credited to the impact of the Netflix Drive to Survive sequence signifies that extra firms from that a part of the world at the moment are within the B2C prospects of F1.
It is because, as Vasseur places it, “now we’ve got a brand new era [of fans], a lot youthful and that may be a huge assist”.
This can be a good indicator of the well being of F1 and the increase in recognition that’s additionally mirrored within the viewing figures and sky-high attendance figures.
Crucially, it additionally exhibits {that a} group similar to Alfa Romeo that failed to complete greater than eighth within the constructors’ championship from 2014-2021 can now discover the appropriate portfolio to develop itself right into a stronger group. Even when the common worth of its partnership isn’t as excessive as a lot of its rivals, previous to the brand new Concorde Settlement, the introduction of the fee cap and the explosion in curiosity in F1, a group like Alfa Romeo was struggling to seek out these sorts of offers.