McLaren Could Catch Ferrari in Commercial Department

Scuderia Ferrari, being the oldest F1 team, will no doubt be one of the most commercially lucrative teams. Inspite of the lack of success on the track in the championship front, Ferrari are still commercially successful. This was a statement from Global Data company, Sportcal.

According to Sportcal’s Head of Sponsorship, Conrad Wiacek, “Ferrari not only have the highest number of commercial partnerships in the sport – with 31 – but they also generate the most revenue from those deals, confirming that while F1 is evolving, the traditional brands are still the main drivers when it comes to securing commercial revenue.”

For the last few years, including five championships, Mercedes have dominated the proceedings. Lewis Hamilton and former teammate, Nico Rosberg, bagged four and 1 World Championships respectively. The German outfit is also on a five Constructors’ title-winning streak. However, interestingly, it has not made a dent in the Scuderia’s appeal in the advertising sector.

The iconic scarlet car has reaped in the benefits from Sebastian Vettel’s duels with Hamilton. To be precise, more new sponsors have been knocking on Maranello’s doors for the 2019 season more than any other team.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, McLaren have plummeted hard from grace. Inspite of their on-track performance or lack of it, they are still an attractive partner for brands. Although the Woking team has not stepped on the podium since 2014 in Australia (Alonso and Button’s post qualifying podium raid does not count sadly), they are the ‘best of the rest’ in commercial revenue generation.

McLaren have gone without a title sponsor and focused on a partnerships with numerous brands. As a result, the eight time Constructors’ World Champions managed to secure the most sponsorship revenue of any team outside Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.

But the big question is, can they use that revenue to produce a competitive car on track?