Infiniti Extends Red Bull F1 Partnership
Premium automotive brand, Infiniti, and Red Bull Racing, the three-time Formula One Constructors’ World Champions, have announced a comprehensive extension of their partnership originally established in March 2011. The partnership will involve the team name changing to Infiniti Red Bull Racing, with Infiniti also named as the major technical partner, from 2013.
Johan de Nysschen, president of Infiniti, commented: ‘While our first 24-months have been very beneficial to both parties, our new deeper relationship will bring increased advantages to Infiniti and Red Bull Racing. As title partner, Infiniti Red Bull Racing will help us garner even more worldwide exposure for our brand, products and technology.’
Red Bull Racing’s team principal Christian Horner stated: ‘Red Bull Racing and Infiniti have been working on a number of initiatives since the start of our relationship in March 2011. During that time, Infiniti has demonstrated significant technical prowess and I’ve been impressed by the depth of the wider engineering capabilities of the Nissan Motor Company. In terms of marketing, Infiniti has leveraged their involvement with Red Bull Racing and Formula One very effectively and has become well known in a short space of time. These two attributes are what makes Infiniti the ideal title and technical partner for Red Bull Racing.’
The enhanced partnership, starting in 2013 and initially carrying through to end of the 2016 season will see a number of new technology initiatives.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s chief technical officer also welcomed the long-term nature of the agreement: ‘Formula One presents immense design and engineering challenges on a daily basis. Having a committed technical partner like Infiniti gives us a great platform for working together on technical projects, such as the Energy Recovery Systems for the 2014 season.’
Sportindustry.biz spoke to Infiniti’s Simon Sproule earlier this year, who hinted at expansion in the sport following a period of ‘foundation setting’. Check out the full interview here.
Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel secured a record-breaking championship by three points on Sunday, becoming the youngest driver ever to claim three consecutive world drivers’ titles.
