SEPTEMBER 28, 2002

Formula 1 sponsorship round-up

There are is still some pushing and shoving going on over the destination of various Formula 1 sponsors next year with the future of Red Bull and Deutsche Post still to be decided. The state of the Arrows team and the announcement from Ford that it is not going to do a deal with Red Bull means that the Austrian drinks company is looking for somewhere to put its sponsorship millions next year. One option is to say with Sauber again but there are other options which include Jordan and even buying a stake in Minardi. Paul Stoddart's team may not look like an obvious choice for Red Bull but the team's links with European Aviation mean that it could help Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz to fulfill his ambition to have an F1 team based in America. Minardi could achieve this using its own Boeing 747 - which could also become a very powerful marketing tool for Red Bull.

Jordan is thought to be pushing hard for the Red Bull money because its future with Deutsche Post and its subsidiary DHL is not yet confirmed. There have been a lot of rumors of late that the German company will decide to move elsewhere. The speculation has linked the company with McLaren and with Sauber (which will be running two German drivers next year).

Orange is rumored to be on the verge of an announcement that it is pulling out of Formula 1 but Lost Boys, another of the Arrows sponsors, is expected to turn up next year with Minardi.