23/05/2010
NEWS STORY
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To say that Red Bull Racing has been on a charge of late would be something of an understatement. The team has followed its best-ever finish in the Constructors' Championship standings last year with a string of pole positions and after a one-two in Monaco it now occupies the top spot in the 2010 constructors' standings as well as the top two places in the Drivers' Championship. Fans and rivals aren't the only ones taking note.
Red Bull Racing has already gained an estimated £4m in sponsorship this year as it was joined by Pepe Jeans and foreign exchange broker FXDD. According to a report in today's Express, the team is prepared to take this one step further by taking on a title sponsor to sit alongside the name of the energy drinks company.
The report is based on news from The Paddock magazine, written by Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt, and it comes straight from the horse's mouth. Red Bull's billionaire founder Dietrich Mateschitz rarely speaks to the press but Sylt carried out an exclusive interview with him and was told that "as soon as Red Bull Racing is recognised as an established team, a title sponsor could be possible."
Given its recent performance, the team is surely not far from being established if indeed it is not there already.
It isn't known which sponsors Red Bull Racing would accept for this prestigious position but the team is believed to be targeting luxury goods companies. The title sponsorship could bring in around £30m, which is less than some other sponsors pay to get their brands in team names and the reason for this is that a partner would have to share billing with an established strong product-based brand in the form of Red Bull itself.
The revenue from a title sponsor would partly offset the £79m which Red Bull pours into the team annually. It would also be well-timed since the revenues of Red Bull itself were down by 1.7% to £2.8bn last year.
Red Bull Racing is believed to be the drinks company's single biggest marketing cost globally and it makes little financial return from it. This is because Red Bull Racing is not only one of the few F1 teams to have no title sponsor but it also receives a below average amount from the companies which sponsor it.
According to F1's industry monitor Formula Money, Red Bull Racing gets £20.6m from its sponsors, compared to an average of £39.9m for all F1 teams, and this is due to them getting little space on the car as the drinks company's brand almost completely covers it. A title partner would get a greater share of on-car exposure than lower-tier sponsors in addition to its brand being inserted into the team's name.
The most well-known precedent of two top brands sitting side-by-side in the name of an F1 team is that of Benetton which had title sponsorship from the Mild Seven tobacco brand when it won the world championship in 1994 and 1995.
Mateschitz says that in F1 Red Bull has "no long or medium term business plans." It certainly doesn't show. Red Bull bought the team from Ford for £1 in 2004 and its performance has accelerated since renowned aerodynamicist Adrian Newey joined from rival McLaren in 2006 on a reported £7m salary. However, Mateschitz attributes its turnaround to more than just one man. "We have recruited the best and most professional people for all the key positions," he says.
Mateschitz also defends Red Bull's massive investment in the sport saying that "F1's global reach is unique and can only really be compared maybe with soccer." He adds that "Grands Prix are either hosted or covered in all our markets, unfortunately with the exception of the US, where F1 still is far from realising its theoretical potential."
Red Bull sponsors both MotoGP races in the US so it is hardly surprising that Mateschitz has identified the US as an area with room for improvement. With this meticulous attitude, winning the title may not even be enough for Mateschitz and he is already looking beyond victory: "the goal is to reach the top as quickly as possible and stay there for as long as possible."