Sport Industry Group

F1 SPONSORS TO FORM ALLIANCE- 3 Sep 2010 00:00:00

The largest corporate sponsors of Formula 1 have come together to launch a new organisation that will help them lobby for greater representation in the control of the sport.





Formula 1 relies heavily on the sponsorship revenue that the firms inject into the sport and the corporations are becoming increasingly concerned that their interests can be ignored when vital decisions are being taken.


The new association is an initiative set up by Formula Money, the sporting consultancy Right Formula and the organisers of the annual Motorsport Business Forum.

It is intended to allow the sponsors to have a say in key decisions and allow them direct access to Bernie Ecclestone.



The group intends to recruit the top 100 sponsors currently involved in F1 and its membership so far includes aournd 30 firms including Total, Shell, Santander and Allianz.



But chief executive of the sport Bernie Ecclestone labeled the association, called Formula 100, as ‘silly’.



‘They're all run by people who are over 21,’ said Ecclestone, ‘We speak to the sponsors all the time. I see them at Grands Prix and I talk to them.

‘The people behind this thing have no investment in F1. They're just being silly,’ he added.

Commercial backers are expected to spend more than £467m on the sport this year.