The Business of Motorsport is really picking up steam as the 2022 season starts in earnest in various parts of the globe. Regardless of the series or the team, deals are being made and business plans are being executed with vigor. Here is just a sample of what has been happening in the last week.
Formula 1
- It’s new car season in F1 as the teams get ready for their 2022 campaigns and with the new cars come new sponsors. Ferrari has signed Qualcomm, AlphaTauri added Ravenol, Aston Martin concluded a deal with Aramco and McLaren Racing and Hilton have renewed their long-standing partnership. Perhaps the biggest signing so far has been Red Bull landing Oracle as their title sponsor. Racer’s Chris Medland looks at the impact of both this deal and the long term signing of Lando Norris at McLaren while Joe Saward looks in detail at both the Oracle and Aramco deals in Significant Stuff.
- While all these deals are getting signed, Williams is looking to conclude a deal gone bad with a former title sponsor. You can read all the messy details in the Autosport Plus article How a dark Williams chapter could yield a delayed bonus. Did the collapse of this sponsorship deal lead directly to the sale of the team by the Williams family? There was definitely a connection.
- It seems that no matter where you look, crypto and NFTs are taking over the sports world. Will this be another dot com bubble that will inevitably bust or are the financials solid? It is hard to to draw any conclusions right now but here are two articles looking at yet another sports naming deal by Crypto.com and how F1 is embracing NFTs.
- Finally, F1 has extended their Engineering Scholarship scheme through to 2025. The scholarships, which were launched last year, are aimed at increasing diversity within motorsport, and was initiated by a donation of $1m from Non-Executive Formula 1 Chairman Chase Carey.
NASCAR
- The big news as NASCAR kicked off their 2022 season was the exhibition race at the Los Angeles Coliseum (see photo above). Organizers were “buoyant after Coliseum success” leading to speculation that this is just the start of exhibition races in stadiums.
Indycar
- Indycar has made no secret of their desire for a third manufacturer to enter the series to take some of the load off of existing engine suppliers Chevy and Honda. Is something in the works for 2024? Marshall Pruett looks into this in INSIGHT: Who will be IndyCar’s third manufacturer? The devil’s in the details.
Sports & Touring Cars
Sports car racing is heating up with a lot of activity in the wings for the new era of GTP/Hypercar competition.
- With their various motorsport activities, Lamborghini is intent on proving its brand on the racetrack. Lamboghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann: “We realize that we have a lot of enthusiasts with Lamborghini and it wasn’t that way before we were racing.”
- Meanwhile, Daily Sportscar catches up with Multimatic Founder Larry Holt as he discusses LMDh and the Mustang GT3 and Ford Performance Boss Mark Rushbrook on the Blue Oval’s choice to go GT3.
- Australian Supercar team Triple Eight has embarked on a three-year plan under new management. “While the plan is to keep the status quo as much as possible in the first 12 months, changes are more likely to occur in 2023.”
- European racing team AF Corse is building a full-time American operation based in Miami. AF Corse runs almost 90 Ferrari cars in various GT series around the globe, including its multiple title-winning FIA World Endurance Championship squad, and is now aiming to have a larger footprint in the American market.
Motorsport Industry News
Motorsport Administration news
- As the FIA starts to implement their vision for the new Ben Sulayem era, he has promised all stakeholders that the FIA will embrace a ‘new and robust governance process.’ As part of that process, the federation has begun their search for a CEO. The FIA says that the CEO Recruitment Working Group has been formed “to assist the presidential team in determining the key attributes required of a CEO to manage the operational affairs of the federation.”
- As the FIA has started to name their various new members, it was announced that Deborah Mayer is set to take over from Michèle Mouton as President of the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission. Mayer was one of the founding figures of Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab and the Iron Dames project and will step in to the new role with the aim to improve inclusivity for women in motorsport and also encourage more female talent into the sport.
- Finally, Law in Sport looks at the Pitfalls Of Sports Federations Playing Judge, Jury & Executioner as they review the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) case Turk v The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. “For FIM and regulators alike, Mr Turk’s case is a salient reminder that disciplinary proceedings must be undertaken in accordance with common principles of fairness, rationality and transparency, whether or not such principles are expressly enshrined in their founding articles or policies. The sport setting does not provide carte blanche to sanction and penalise perceived offenders when the allegation, the evidence and the penalty do not stand up to scrutiny.”
Motorsport Industry News and Views
- Who are the most powerful people in motorsport? Autosport has compiled the list for you.
- Performance Racing News looks at what was new, innovative, and fueling growth in the motorsports industry at the recent PRI Show last December.
- Performance Racing News also takes a comprehensive look at the similarities and differences among stock car tracks tracks and sanctions across the US.
- Finally, Blackbook Motorsport looks a how The Concours Club is driving the future of private motorsport.
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.