Sauber’s rebrand as ‘Stake F1 Team’ for the 2024 Formula 1 season is currently being investigated by the Swiss Federal Casino Commission, according to local reports.
Swiss broadcaster SRF News states that the Federal Casino Commission has opened proceedings against Sauber due to regulations against unlicensed gambling operations.
Stake – who have taken on sole title partnership over the Sauber outfit and feature heavily on the branding of the recently unveiled C44 – is a crypto casino operator that doesn’t hold a license in Switzerland and thus is subject to an advertising ban.
Legal expert Patrick Krauskopf told SRF: “Sponsoring would be allowed. In the present case, the brands Stake and Sauber are so linked together, or the term Stake is so strongly imprinted in the minds of viewers, that we have probably crossed the red line into unauthorized advertising.”
Beyond an investigation into the legality of the Stake/Sauber partnership, the team will also face further complications with its branding throughout the F1 season.
The Stake/Sauber partnership was formalised at the unveiling of its C44 challenger on Monday, but ‘Stake F1 Team’ won’t be the name the squad runs under at every round this season according to gambling restrictions in further regions, Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi revealed.
Stake became a title sponsor of the team in its final year as Alfa Romeo in 2023, however, at a number of venues, the squad swapped out Stake branding for that of streaming subsidiary Kick due to restrictions on gambling-orientated sponsorship.
A special Kick-themed livery was on the car for the Belgian Grand Prix and the streaming platform also featured on the C43 in Spain, Qatar and Australia.
The Hinwil-based squad runs under the guise of Stake for the next two seasons, prior to the Audi takeover in 2026, but Alunni Bravi confirms a gambling restrictions mandate temporary name changes at specific rounds.
As you know, last year we alternated two different names according to the different countries where we go racing,” said Alunni Bravi.
“We will be fully complying with all the local applicable laws and where Stake is prohibited, so gambling advertising is prohibited, we will use a different name.
“As last year, we have Kick as one of our most important partners – our chassis name is a Kick Sauber – so where we are not going to race as Stake F1 Team, we will use a second team name.”
The official chassis name for the C44 is the Kick Sauber C44 – so the chances are high that when needed the entire squad will rebrand itself as ‘Kick F1 Team.’
2024 is a new chapter for Sauber after its six-year partnership with Alfa Romeo ended in 2023 and Alunni Bravi has been complimentary of Stake, who helped launch the neon green and carbon liveried C44 in London on Monday.
“This year, of course, for us it’s easier: we have a new and clear identity,” he said.
“We start here with an event that I think is a testament of what we want to do with a new motto for the team, ‘unleashed’, that for us means really the way we want to communicate, the way we want to be perceived.
“Of course, this also needs to be supported by the results on track. We are all working together to deliver a better job and more performance.
“It is important that we have everything. An F1 team is not just a racing team. Of course, it’s a large operation.
“And we need to work on all the areas, on track, off track, on the technical side, also on the commercial side.
“And with Stake, I think we will achieve important targets that will bring an added value also to F1.”
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