New USA sponsors coming to F1

My spies in the F1 paddock are telling me that there are going to be several big sponsorship announcements in the lead up to Austin, and at the Grand Prix itself. Logically one would conclude that the firms concerned will probably be US multinationals with the kind of global interests that F1 can help to develop.

It is still not clear who will be involved but a few months ago there were lots of rumors of Coca-Cola. The main brand does not really make sense in F1 because the product already has an amazing global footprint, but one can imagine the company using one of its many other brands, particularly its energy drinks, as this dement of the market is where Red Bull is dominant.

There has also been talk of several financial institutions and technology companies and there is still much effort going into getting Indian and Chinese companies into the sport.

Any big new sponsorship deals are good news for F1 at the moment as money is short in many markets as a result of the economic troubles of late. Up to now there have been more firms packing up and leaving F1 so seeing some new money coming in will be very good for the sport.

Watch this space! Joe Saward