London, Feb 9 (BUS): The Red Bull Formula One team has secured a new championship sponsorship worth nearly $500 million with technology company Oracle, making it among the sport’s most lucrative business deals.
The five-year deal is a lift for the team’s pre-season that begins next month when Max Verstappen looks to defend his world title in the new Oracle Red Bull Racing car that was also revealed on Wednesday.
Financial details were not disclosed, but a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that it is worth about $100 million annually. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidentiality terms.
With a new cost cap of $145 million for teams submitted for the upcoming season, Oracle cloud computing is also seen as a way to expand the budget even further.
The extra resources and any advantage in computing power could help when deciding the titles, as in December, the final lap in the final race of the season when Verstappen managed to controversially overtake Lewis Hamilton and dislodge the Mercedes driver for the world champion title.
Besides cash, which is another sign of F1’s allure, Red Bull will benefit more from the expertise the Austin-based company provides for cloud computing, engine development and driver development.
A relative newcomer to F1, Kelman started watching in 2018 and took on more Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” for the first time the following year as he took fans behind the scenes.
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