Not every company in the world can afford to become a team’s title sponsor, but that doesn’t mean that small sponsors have no chance of getting involved with a Formula One outfit. In addition to the big-spending sponsors, teams also have several dozen smaller sponsors, who may just want their name to feature on the drivers’ overalls or helmets or who are happy just to get a name check on the hoarding in the pit garages.
You can often find the names of smaller sponsors over the parts of the cars that aren’t so easy to see, like alongside the cockpit, at the bottom of the engine cover, or at the back of the sidepods. Sometimes these associate sponsors can get very cheap deals with a team because they supply something that the team needs – like petrol, team clothing, or furniture for the factory. Sponsors can sometimes find that a team is only too willing to take their money, especially if the team is one of the smaller outfits at the back of the field. Some teams cannot be too choosy about which sponsors they accept and which they do not – that’s why you often find the cars at the back of the grid covered in a lot of smaller stickers, whereas the cars at the front of the field get bigger sponsorship deals (and bigger advertisements on them). And from the sponsor’s point of view, getting a small sticker on the car isn’t such a bad thing. So many photographs are taken of the cars and used in newspapers and magazines that exposure comes very easily.
This fact explains why some sponsors are also happy to do personal deals with the drivers. Ferrari star Michael Schumacher is one of the highest paid sportsmen in the world, not only because of the wages he earns from his team but also because sponsors are only too happy to support him in exchange for one of their badges on his car or even on his famous baseball cap. More people, for example, now know of the small Germany company Deutsche Vermogensberatung because it bought the space at the front of Schumacher’s cap.
You can often find the names of smaller sponsors over the parts of the cars that aren’t so easy to see, like alongside the cockpit, at the bottom of the engine cover, or at the back of the sidepods. Sometimes these associate sponsors can get very cheap deals with a team because they supply something that the team needs – like petrol, team clothing, or furniture for the factory. Sponsors can sometimes find that a team is only too willing to take their money, especially if the team is one of the smaller outfits at the back of the field. Some teams cannot be too choosy about which sponsors they accept and which they do not – that’s why you often find the cars at the back of the grid covered in a lot of smaller stickers, whereas the cars at the front of the field get bigger sponsorship deals (and bigger advertisements on them). And from the sponsor’s point of view, getting a small sticker on the car isn’t such a bad thing. So many photographs are taken of the cars and used in newspapers and magazines that exposure comes very easily.
This fact explains why some sponsors are also happy to do personal deals with the drivers. Ferrari star Michael Schumacher is one of the highest paid sportsmen in the world, not only because of the wages he earns from his team but also because sponsors are only too happy to support him in exchange for one of their badges on his car or even on his famous baseball cap. More people, for example, now know of the small Germany company Deutsche Vermogensberatung because it bought the space at the front of Schumacher’s cap.
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