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THE SLEEPING GIANT OF FORMULA 1?
by cityam
decades Formula 1 has worked hard to be a positive force everywhere it races, including economic, social, and cultural benefits,” a statement said.
“Sports like F1 are uniquely positioned to cross borders and cultures to bring countries and communities together to share the passion and excitement of incredible competition and achievement.”
Realism Vs Morality
Speaking to City A.M. after McLaren launched their 2023 Formula 1 challenger, Matt Dennington, McLaren’s chief of partnerships, insisted that the outfit would stick by their Middle Eastern and crypto sponsors.
“The focus is on how we partner [with] brands that are going to support us in delivering performance gains both on and off the track,” he said.
“The Middle East is an increasingly important market across the sporting landscape.
“We wouldn’t be doing our job if we weren’t looking across the ecosystem and understanding the ebbs and flows of partners [such as crypto].
“We do our due diligence on all partners but have a very open relationship with [crypto firm] OKX and amidst the backdrop of a challenging market in the crypto space, they’ve been solid.”
Martin agrees, adding: “[The] Middle East is a hugely important region for us, economically it’s very strong where you’re seeing some challenges elsewhere. What’s important to us in a partnership is making sure that you’re doing business with people that you ultimately have a lot of faith and trust and transparency in and fortunately for us, we’ve chosen great partners there.”
When City A.M. spoke to McLaren –whose driver pairing this year is Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri –last year on their plans to expand into the Americas, they had just taken on majority ownership of an IndyCar team. Twelve months on, the racing outfit continue to prioritise the region and are looking to become ‘America’s team’ given that a third grand prix, in Las Vegas, joins the calendar this year.
“[America is a] huge, huge priority market for us,” Dennington added. “We’ve got a significant fan base over there and we see the opportunity to grow that fan base.”
As the world of sport appears to be turning a blind eye to potential crypto volatility and associations with morally questionable brands, Formula 1 looks like being a good bellwether of sentiment towards those partnerships.
