Christian Horner Responds to Ferrari’s $29 Billion Move by Unveiling Red Bull’s Tall Claims: “We Are Almost There”

It is no secret Formula 1 is a rich person’s sport. There are unbelievable costs associated with all aspects of the sport. Every team needs to raise millions to sustain itself, with hundreds of members, and cars that cost millions while also paying millions to retain worthy drivers. Hence, no team can survive without sponsorships. The best teams on the grid get the best sponsorships and the most money. With the overall performance of Red Bull in 2022, the Austrian team is showcasing it pays to play well.

There is plenty of fish in the sea, but Red Bull scooped up the biggest one with their $500 million deal with Oracle in 2022. However, Oracle is the tip of the iceberg. RBR’s Commercial Director Nick Stocker told Sports Business Journal how Red Bull is getting closer to self-sustenance.

Red Bull, owned and heavily promoted by the energy drinks company, recently saw a 69% social media growth in the US last year alone. This is exactly why Red Bull and sister company AlphaTauri are stepping away car unveiling in Europe and going to the US for their 2023 livery launch.

Stocker also revealed the team, apart from the US-based title sponsor, has gone from 15 licensing partners to around 40 in the last couple of years. The incredible run of form definitely had a part to play. With all the sponsorship money, Christian Horner revealed “we’re almost there,” in his goal of self-sustenance solely on sponsorship money.

This is Red Bull’s best-ever commercial performance, dating back to its founding in 2004. This is also Red Bull’s stern reply to rival Ferrari’s multi-year sponsorship deal.

Read More: $640 Million Red Bull Plays the Substitution Game With Team Partners Ahead of the 2023 Season

However, let’s not count Ferrari out before we look at their end of the business.

In this game of F1 sponsorship money, is Ferrari edging Red Bull?

After the dust from the shuffling settled, Ferrari revealed its new partners in crime for the upcoming season. The team made quite a few changes in management after a poor 2022 and sponsorship deals also took a hit.

The Scuderia cut ties with long-serving partners in Velas and Snapdragon. Now, according to Ferrari’s official website, the Maranello team has two new patterns on board in Genesys and Harman Automotive.

Genesys is a $21 billion cloud and digital technology company. For Ferrari, Genesys will probably fit into Snapdragon’s role in the team. Herman Automotive, on the other hand, is a company valued at $8 billion. We are not sure about the role, but the multi-billion dollar companies offering multi-year contracts to the team will definitely not hurt in pursuing their world championship endeavors.

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The two hefty partnerships should bring Ferrari some much-needed financial firepower to compete against high-flying Red Bull. However, only the track will tell us if these partnerships translate to positive results on the track.