Red Bull is reportedly close to securing a new major Formula 1 sponsorship deal with a partner of Italian football giants Inter Milan, according to reports.
The Milton Keynes squad is set to announce a deal with Gate.io, a cryptocurrency firm, which also acts as shirt sleeve sponsor for the Serie A club, as per SportsBusiness.
The move comes after the team recently severed its ties with Singaporean crypto company Bybit, with whom it had a deal from the start of the 2022 season, and was one of the sport’s largest-ever, with a reputed $50 million a year.
Having lost this deal at the end of last season, this reported move will act as a like-for-like replacement, adding to five other new sponsors including brokers Avatrade, video tech business Neat, and gaming giants EA Sports, the latter having previously partnered with its star driver Max Verstappen.
Perez exit sparks further Red Bull sponsorship exodus
Red Bull’s inclusion of new backers has been a necessity, following the loss of some of its sponsors through the exit of Sergio Perez from the team.
Upon the Mexican veteran’s departure in favour of Kiwi Liam Lawson, the team has lost support from Claro and Telcel, both companies owned by Carlos Slim, a long-term backer and countryman of Perez.
Both of these have disappeared from the team’s ‘wall’ of partners that features on its website, and have been joined by HP, Cash App, Intel, Therabody, Ocean Bottle, BMC, ByBit, Walmart and Poly.
However, RacingNews365 has reported that the team are “expected” to announce further new partners before the first-ever all-team F175 launch event at the London O2 on February 18th.
Red Bull, as a team, will be looking to get back on track in 2025 after finishing a disappointing third in the Constructors’ Championship, behind eventual winners McLaren and Ferrari.
Comparatively to his hugely-dominant previous two seasons, Verstappen laboured to his fourth straight title, securing the crown with just two races left in Las Vegas.
Perez’s dip in form saw him finish eighth in the standings, 285 points adrift of the Dutchman’s final tally.
After longstanding speculation, the six-time Grand Prix winner was eventually announced to be leaving the team, his seat being taken by Lawson, who competed in the final six races of the year for Racing Bulls.
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