Red Bull F1 clinches new $500M title sponsorship with Oracle

MILTON KEYNES, England: The Red Bull Formula One team has secured a new title sponsorship worth around $500 million with technology firm Oracle, placing it among the most lucrative commercial deals in sports. The five-year deal is a lift to the team ahead of the season beginning next month when Max Verstappen will be looking to defend his world title in a new Oracle Red Bull Racing car that was also revealed on Wednesday. Financial details were not disclosed but a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press it was worth around $100 million a year.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential terms. “We’re all about speed and the speed of response,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said in an interview with The Associated Press at the team’s central England headquarters. “We’re pushing the Oracle technical guys.

But they’re responding in the best possible way. And that’s what makes this partnership very exciting.” With a new cost cap of $145 million for teams introduced for the upcoming season, Oracle’s cloud computing is also seen as a way of stretching the budget further. “We’ve got a brand new set of regulations, a new technical challenge,” Horner said.