Red Bull is reportedly close to securing a new major Formula 1 sponsorship deal with a partner of Italian football giants Inter Milan, according to reports.
According to SportsBusiness, the Austrian outfit is set to announce a deal with Gate.io, a cryptocurrency firm that also sponsors the Serie A club’s shirt sleeve.
The move comes after the team recently severed its ties with Singaporean crypto company Bybit, with whom it had a deal from the start of the 2022 season.
Red Bull’s previous partnership with Bybit saw the logo feature on the car’s rear wing and was one of the sport’s largest-ever, with a reputed $50 million a year.
Having lost this deal at the end of last season, the reported move will act as a like-for-like replacement, adding to five other new sponsors including brokers Avatrade, video tech business Neat, and gaming giants EA Sports, the latter having partnered with star driver Max Verstappen.
Perez exit sparks further Red Bull sponsorship exodus
Red Bull’s inclusion of new backers has been a necessity, following the loss of some of its sponsors through the exit of Sergio Perez from the team.
Upon the Mexican’s departure, the team lost support from Claro and Telcel, both companies owned by Carlos Slim, a long-term backer and countryman of Perez.
Both of these have disappeared from the team’s ‘wall’ of partners that feature on its website, and have been joined by HP, Cash App, Intel, Therabody, Ocean Bottle, BMC, ByBit, Walmart and Poly.
However, it is reported that the team are “expected” to announce further new partners before the first-ever all-team launch event at the London O2 on February 18.
Red Bull, as a team, will be looking to get back on track in 2025 after finishing a disappointing third in the Constructors’ Championship, behind eventual winners McLaren and Ferrari.
Comparatively to his hugely dominant previous two seasons, Verstappen laboured to his fourth straight title, securing the Drivers’ crown with two races spare in Las Vegas.
Perez’s dip in form saw him finish eighth in the standings, 285 points adrift of the Dutchman’s final tally.
After longstanding speculation, the six-time Grand Prix winner was eventually announced to be leaving the team, his seat being taken by Liam Lawson, who competed in the final six races of the year for Racing Bulls.
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