Two years ago the famous Red Bull F1 Team was officially called “Infiniti Red Bull Racing” as part of a major sponsorship with the car brand. Next year, that title sponsorship goes to Aston Martin as the two companies move their relationship to second base.
When Infiniti left Red Bull for their natural home at Renault, Red Bull looked to fill that automotive gap with a new brand, and did that on a small scale with Aston Martin.
The 2016 car with Infiniti Branding prominent on the sidepod
The Iconic Aston Martin brand was seen on the side and front of the F1 Racer, while back in the factory the two companies worked hard on a new hyper-car concept for the road.
Compare to this years car with Aston just a hit on the rear side
In 2018 they move to second base with the team re-branding as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.
It’s a title sponsorship, meaning more cash and a bunch more branding for Aston Martin, and more engineering partnerships for future road and hyper-cars.
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner said “Having conceived and created the remarkably successful Aston Martin Valkyrie together in 2016, we extended our relationship this year and are now delighted to further strengthen the Partnership and see the team competing as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing from 2018.”
While Aston Martin President and CEO, Andy Palmer went into more detail – touching on the sensitive third base conversations “Title partnership is the next logical step for our Innovation Partnership with Red Bull Racing. We are enjoying the global brand awareness that a revitalised Formula One provides. The power unit discussions (in Formula One) are of interest to us, but only if the circumstances are right. We are not about to enter an engine war with no restrictions in cost or dynamometer hours but we believe that if the FIA can create the right environment we would be interested in getting involved.”
Yes, Third Base is an Aston engine, but the new power unit regulations for F1 are not yet set, and this deal could be seen as a clear sign to F1 bosses that they need to get that right if they really want more car brands on the grid.
