Stake, Airwallex emerge as Australian leaders in the Formula 1 sponsorship race

One of Formula 1’s most storied teams revealed its new race car on Tuesday, but a lick of neon green paint might not be the most interesting thing about the Sauber’s 2024 competitor.

Rather, it’s the branding that occupies nearly every spare surface of the car — and the way homegrown companies Kick, Stake.com and Airwallex are leading a new era of Australian sponsorship in Formula 1, exposing local scaleups to the world.

Melbourne-founded cryptocurrency gambling platform Stake.com is now naming sponsor for the storied Sauber outfit, which will go by Stake F1 Team through the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

(Stake.com is not to be confused with Stake, the Australian retail investment platform.)

In nations where gambling advertising is restricted, including Australia, the team is set to use the Kick F1 Team moniker, reflecting the streaming website backed by Stake.com co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team)

It is common for Formula 1 teams to sell naming sponsorships, with Italian auto manufacturer Alfa Romeo the naming sponsor for the Sauber team between 2019 and 2024.

However, the Stake and Kick branding represents the most prominent Australian branding in Formula 1 since Hurstville-born driver Jack Brabham won the 1966 championship with a car of his own make.

The naming sponsorship is one of the most notable brand-building exercises undertaken by Stake, which also adorns the jersey of historic Premier League football club Everton, and has partnered with rap megastar Drake to drive interest in the online casino.

This season, fans may spot the name Airwallex whizzing past on the McLaren cars and driver overalls, after the Australian-born fintech penned a multi-year partnership with the racing team.

While Airwallex won’t take over the McLaren team name, the deal — also announced on Tuesday — will embed Airwallex in McLaren’s own digital merchandising operations.

“Our partnership will play a key role in supporting our global expansion, and we look forward to working with the McLaren team in 2024 and beyond to support our mutual growth,” Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang said in a statement.

Big audiences, bigger opportunities

Buoyed by the global success of the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive, Formula 1 has enjoyed a significant renaissance among global sports audiences.

The sport had an estimated global viewership of 1.5 billion people in the thrilling 2021 season.

Drive to Survive is one of the streamer’s most popular sports series too, giving advertisers plenty of air-time after the chequered flag has been flown.

With that kind of exposure, slapping a brand name on two of the twenty cars on the 2024 Formula 1 grid doesn’t come cheap.

Citing sources with insights on recent sponsorship deals, ESPN reports team naming rights can cost brands in the vicinity of US$30 million (AU$46 million) to US$35 million (AU$53.7 million) a year.

The type of fan that Formula 1 attracts is just as important as overall viewership, too.

Competing in the top echelon of open-wheel racing is prohibitively expensive, with many teams (and individual drivers) backed by billionaires with a passion for speed.

Sponsorship can lead to trackside connections and potential business opportunities: consider the range and cost of hospitality suites available at every grand prix, where trackside action is only half of the experience.

And working with a Formula 1 team, an avatar of engineering know-how and success, can open the door to even greater exposure.

Consider Jigspace, the Australian augmented reality startup, which partnered with the Sauber team in recent years.

A 3D demo prepared by Jigspace wound up in early Apple Vision Pro demonstrations, linking the local tech firm to one of this year’s most notable consumer tech product launches.

Australian scaleups add to local F1 involvement

Australia’s history in Formula 1 is rich and ongoing.

Australian drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri are both on the grid for 2024 — and fans of Stake F1 Team’s Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas have even christened him an honorary Australian, as he spends much of his downtime exploring the country with his Australian partner, the professional cyclist Tiffany Cromwell.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Valtteri Bottas (@valtteribottas)

The Australian Grand Prix will also be the debut race in the 2025 season, returning to its former status as the Formula 1 curtain-raiser.

Recent sponsorship deals show the sport’s allure is only growing for local tech firms, who may wish to give their business-to-business products a bit more wheel-to-wheel excitement.