The CrowdStrike global IT outage last week also affected motorsport and in the Business of Motorsport Roundup this week you will find out how. I also cover the executive turmoil at the Audi and Alpine F1 teams, the future of Formula E and a note of caution for those of you that claim your motorsport activities as a business expense. All this and more in this week’s edition of the Business of Motorsport Roundup on Motorsport Prospects.
Motorsport Industry News
Formula 1
Last week I lead off this column with rumors of leadership struggles in the Audi F1 project. Well the rumors proved to be true as ex-Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has been appointed Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer of the project. What of the two people I mentioned last week who were battling over leadership of the program? According to Audi, “Oliver Hoffmann, previously Chairman of the Boards of Directors of all Sauber companies, and Andreas Seidl, previously CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG and Sauber Technologies AG, are leaving the project as part of the realignment.”
Here are two great articles that look at how this all came to be.
- Drastic action shows Audi’s F1 entry’s already in trouble (The Race)
- How a power struggle prompted Audi’s bombshell move for Binotto (Autosport)
Not to be outdone, Alpine is reportedly looking for a new F1 team boss as Renault launches a study on the future of the Viry engine facility amid the F1 project review. The latest rumors point to Hitech GP boss Oliver Oakes taking over the position of current Team Principal Bruno Famin.
Despite Suzuka signing a contract to host the Japanese Grand Prix until 2029, Osaka is creating a panel of experts to boost its bid to get an F1 race slot in the coming years.
“Since we announced in January this year that we would try to attract the F1 Grand Prix, we have received many opinions from various stakeholders and fans,” said Hiroshi Mizohata, president of the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau. “In Japan, motorsport tends to be viewed as a race for only a few enthusiasts, but diversity is progressing and it has become a sport that everyone can enjoy. It also has the character of being a testing ground for environmentally friendly mobility such as carbon neutral. I would like to have thorough discussions with experts so that we can contribute to the correct understanding and development of motorsports.”
General Motorsport Industry News
The global IT blackout last Friday over a faulty CrowdStrike update to Microsoft Windows servers didn’t just ground planes, postpone surgeries and cause general chaos around the world, it also directly affected motorsport.
The Mercedes F1 team for one struggled to get their systems online on the first day of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. More significantly, CrowdStrike CEO and co-founder George Kurtz, a keen amateur racer, quite sensibly withdrew from the GT America round at Virginia International Raceway he was scheduled to race in last weekend in order to attend to his day job.
Pascal Wehrlein was crowned champion at last weekend’s London finale, but did this season hit the right notes off the track? BlackBook Motorsport explores the series’ commercial progress, the decision to move behind a paywall in the UK, and how it’s set up for the future.
“With the fund’s estimated assets totalling US$776 billion, the all-electric series can count on an extremely wealthy backer to ease the pain of its financial losses. It also further deepens Formula E’s ties with the sovereign wealth fund, which already owned a five per cent stake in the series.”
In other Formula E news, the series has purchased the intellectual property rights of the defunct W Series, but is unsure how it will use them. “We could do any sort of thing with it. So we have Girls on Track as a massive promotion, trying to get more young women into STEM subjects, in motorsport. So we could try and use the W Series branding around something like that. It doesn’t have to be on track, it might be on track. So we haven’t even thought about what we might do with it. I just thought it was a good opportunity to have the asset because we are focused on bringing more women into motorsport.”
With its ability to attract former Formula One drivers and a multitude of brands, Rodolpho Siqueira, head of communications at Stock Car Brasil, explains to BlackBook Motorsport why the series has the potential to grow both at home and internationally.
With races broadcast to more than 150 countries in five languages, Stock Car is currently the main B2B and B2C relationship and experience hub for the entire South American sporting ecosystem.
This reach is made possible through an agreement with Motorsport.tv, but local coverage is also broad. In Brazil, races are broadcast by Band TV, which also shows Formula One. Other options for fans include subscription network SporTV and national TV channel Estadão. Plus, the series’ main events gather over 300 media professionals from all over the country.
Bringing together more than 200 national and international brands, the series is breaking records with its advertising return and brand exposure year after year. It also generates millions of dollars in economic impact for the cities in which its races are held.
Why the Stock Car Pro Series is South American motorsport’s toughest test
Sports Business Journal explains how these are busy times for NASCAR Holdings when it comes to corporate sponsorship as it is reshuffling its sales team, bringing in a brand consultant and working to renew or land several important deals.
“While NASCAR’s sales team has had success since the pandemic, major sponsorships with blue-chip companies new to the sport have been harder to come by during that time, and competition has increased fiercely. NASCAR is also preparing for a new era next year with the start of a new media rights cycle, all factors that appear to be contributing to NASCAR’s latest moves.”
In an article prepared for National Motorsport Week, Motorsport UK explains the popularity of the sport in the UK. “The UK leads the world when it comes to motorsport accessibility, both in terms of the number of options available up and down the country and the price of taking part,” said Claire Kirkpatrick, Head of Club and Community Development at Motorsport UK.
Quick Takes on the Business of Motorsport This Week
- Conor Daly: Racing Journeyman Navigates The High-Speed World Of Motorsports (Forbes)
- Google and Formula E break world record for most participants in generative AI hackathon (Formula E)
- Tax Liens And Sports Teams: Billionaire Marc Lasry’s Investment Playbook (Forbes)
- First Ever FIA Motorsport Engineering Scholar Welcomed into The FIA’s Technical Team for The London E-Prix (FIA)
- Skip Barber honored with PMH Trailblazer Award (Racer)
- “Thrills, Legends, and Speed: Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 Leaves Attendees in Awe!” (Pitlane News)
- How Brad Pitt’s F1 movie immersed itself in the racing world: ‘People creating magic’ (The Athletic)
The Numbers
- US viewership: NASCAR records second-highest audience on NBC this season (BlackBook Motorsport)
- Verstappen’s Slump Sparks F1 Ratings: Will More U.S. Fans Watch? (Front Office Sports)
Motorsport Law Roundup
A look at some of the legal and regulatory issues and analysis in Motorsport this week
Panis Racing’s victory in the 4 Hours of Imola has been reinstated after “a significant and relevant new element” has led the team’s post-race penalty to be overturned.
The issued bulletin outlines that Panis presented data extracted from a data logger not included in the list of mandatory elements for control purposes, but is admissible as evidence as article 11.9.3.x of the International Sporting Code (ISC) states that “the Stewards may use any video or electronic system likely to assist them in reaching a decision.” The presented data showed “an anticipation time that is significantly lower than the one indicated by the official data logger” and that “the same indication can be found when looking at the speed recorded by the competitor’s data logger and by the official data logger.”
Read more at Sportscar365.
Let this be a warning for those of you that race and claim your motorsport activities as a business expense. A personal injury lawyer who also races cars shouldn’t be allowed to deduct about $300,000 for racing-related costs as ordinary business advertising expenses because they’re unrelated to his law practice, the U.S. government told the Tenth Circuit on Wednesday.
“We held a trial to consider that dispute. The principal question is whether the IRS erred in declining to allow deductions for $303,366 of advertising expenses that petitioner allegedly incurred during 2008-2013 in connection with his business as an attorney. Petitioner contends that these deductions correspond to expenses he incurred in conducting a racing car activity, which he says promoted his litigation practice. Respondent replies that petitioner failed to substantiate half of these expenses and that the racing-related costs he did substantiate were not “ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred . . . in carrying on [his] trade or business.” See §162(a). We agree with respondent on both counts and hold that petitioner is not entitled to deduct advertising costs in excess of those the IRS has allowed. Respondent has conceded the accuracy-related penalties for all years, but we find that petitioner is liable for certain additions to tax in amounts to be recalculated.”
Read the full story at Tax Notes
Motorsport Sponsorship & Partnership News
Here are the latest motorsport sponsorship deals, partnerships and related analysis that were announced this week
- BTCC Team Up With Liqui Moly (Pitlane News)
- Meet the Italian Bubbly That’s Taken Over F1 Podiums (Robb Report)
- Crypto Exchange Kraken Bet Big on Sports Sponsorships (Sporting Crypto)
- The Alpine Formula One team has partnered with G2 Esports and rebranded its sim racing team (BlackBook Motorsport)
- NEW Omologato Radical Chronograph (Radical Motorsport)
- Olipop’s sports sponsorships are popping off (Marketing Brew)
- World Racing Group taps ViewLift for streaming (Sports Business Journal)
- UK’s National Motorsport Academy becomes official education partner of Global Karting League (PMW)
- Alpine to run striking Deadpool + Wolverine Belgian GP F1 livery (The Race)
- PUMA and FORMULA 1 Unveil New Collection (Podium Life)
- Mastercard joins forces with McLaren Racing Formula 1 Team (Mastercard)
- The Racing Spirit brand is the apparel supplier of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Racing Force Group)
- Lewis Hamilton Lands Global Endorsement Deal with CFI (SIG)
- The F1 Watch Wars Are On! (Watchonista)
- E1 World Championship signs BRETT as presenting partner (iSportConnect)
Team & Manufacturer News
Here is a roundup of the latest team news from around the world of motorsport
- “Something fundamentally wrong” at Blanchard Racing Team (SpeedCafe)
- Alpine and Briatore increasingly lean toward Mercedes deal – report (Racing News 365)
- Flying Lizard Withdraws from Second Fanatec GT America Race Over BoP Concerns (Sportscar365)
- Eastalent Audi Joins 50-Car Endurance Grid at Nürburgring (Sportscar365)
- Grove Racing Mercedes-AMG Returns for Queensland (Sportscar365(
- MissionH24 Partners With McLaren Applied for H24EVO (Sportscar365)
- Volante Rosso Acquires Vantage GT3 for Series Return (Sportscar365)
- Affalterbach Racing GmbH Founded By Mercedes-AMG, Motorsport Division Reorganised (Daily Sportscar)
- GRAFF Confirm Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 Effort (Daily Sportscar)
- Management changes made at Isotta Fraschini (PMW)
- Toyota Planning Transition To Hydrogen Following Hypercar Ruleset Extension (Daily Sportscar)
- Winward Targeting Race Wins in Remaining Endurance Rounds (Sportscar365)
- An Ever-Beating Heart of Racing Team Keeps Expanding (IMSA)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
