Motorsport story by Fred Smith, Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:08:00 GMT


LONDON - Mobile giant Vodafone has decided to sponsor the McLaren Mercedes team in the Formula One championship. Vodafone currently sponsors the Ferrari team, but the sponsorship deal ends in 2007.

Incidentally, Michael Schumacher's deal with Ferrari also ends next season. McLaren has been without any title sponsor since July after new European Union regulations against tobacco advertising meant that it had to abandon West cigarettes.

As far as Ferrari is concerned, the team has had a nightmare on the track this year and has come behind McLaren and Renault in the constructors ratings. Vodafone's announcement came three weeks after the mobile giant decided to end its sponsorship of the Manchester United football team. It said that it plans to be associated with the UEFA Champions League as a partner.

Announcing the McLaren agreement, Vodafone's Chief Marketing Officer Peter Bamford said, "The new agreement delivers a fantastic marketing platform; the associative rights we acquire as a result of this new sponsorship provide us with additional opportunities to continue to raise brand awareness, build brand preference and drive revenue.

It will also provide our customers with unique and exciting content through Vodafone live! with 3G." He added that the company was excited to be associated with a big Formula One team like McLaren. The financial terms of the deal were not announced, but Ferrari's contract was worth $40 million a year.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis was elated at having got a huge name like Vodafone to sponsor them, "The status of the brand and the level of activation in support of the sponsorship were key criteria for our choice of Title Sponsor and Vodafone over-delivers in all respects," he said. "In addition, as our agreement is long-term, this provides important stability within the Team, allowing us to focus fully on our objective of winning races and Championships together. We are delighted to welcome Vodafone to the team and look forward to many future successes."

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