Are you willing to sponsor?
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted November 20, 2014 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Lewis Hamilton has topped both Friday practice sessions in preparation for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the 2014 Formula One world championship that will see either Lewis or team-mate Nico Rosberg crowned champion. Rosberg ended both sessions in second place and was always within 2 tenths of his team-mate.
The Mercedes pair began their championship deciding weekend as the only drivers in the 1 minute 43 second region. Everyone else was in the 1:45 region. Lewis Hamilton was a tenth quicker than Rosberg at the top of the times after the pair had traded fastest laps throughout the session. Fernando Alonso was 3rd fastest but was a staggering 1.7 seconds slower than Lewis.
Sebastian Vettel was 4th fastest, just behind the man that he will replace next year at Ferrari. The outgoing champion was 1.8 seconds off of the Mercedes cars as he complained about dodgy down-shifts in his Red Bull. Team-mate and lead driver at Red Bull for next season Daniel Ricciardo was 5th; just 3 hundredths slower than Sebastian. Red Bull sponsored cars continued to occupy positions in the top 10, with the Toro Rosso pair in 6th and 7th place. Jean-Eric Vergne, who remains in the dark as to whether he will be with the team next year, led Daniil Kvyat by a tenth of a second.
In what appears to have been an ongoing trend this season, neither Williams looked very competitive in the first session. Valtteri Bottas was 8th fastest with Felipe Massa down in 13th. Both cars suffered a near-identical bodywork failure as their side-pod panels made a bid for freedom.
3 drivers made their first Grand Prix weekend appearance including Will Stevens. The British driver will carry on driving for the rest of the weekend as he partners Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham, who return to the track since going into administration prior to the United States Grand Prix. Marcus Ericsson broke off all ties to the team after signing for Sauber for next year, leaving the door open for Stevens. He ended the session slowest as he got to grips with the car.
The other 2 drivers only drove for the first session. Formula 3 driver Esteban Ocon made his GP weekend debut at the wheel of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus. He ended the session in 16th; just 3 tenths slower than Pastor Maldonado in the sister car. Adderly Fong was the final substitution as he took the wheel of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber. He finished the session in 19th.
Practice 1 results:
POS. | NO. | DRIVER | CAR | BEST LAP | GAP | LAPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’43.476 | 32 | |
2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’43.609 | 0.133 | 31 |
3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’45.184 | 1.708 | 22 |
4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’45.334 | 1.858 | 30 |
5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’45.361 | 1.885 | 23 |
6 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’45.718 | 2.242 | 17 |
7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’45.835 | 2.359 | 32 |
8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’45.913 | 2.437 | 8 |
9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’45.983 | 2.507 | 23 |
10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’46.030 | 2.554 | 24 |
11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’46.049 | 2.573 | 23 |
12 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’46.131 | 2.655 | 23 |
13 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’46.549 | 3.073 | 7 |
14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’46.556 | 3.080 | 28 |
15 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’46.711 | 3.235 | 31 |
16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Lotus-Renault | 1’47.066 | 3.590 | 29 |
17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’47.235 | 3.759 | 8 |
18 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’47.971 | 4.495 | 24 |
19 | 37 | Adderly Fong | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’48.269 | 4.793 | 25 |
20 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham-Renault | 1’50.684 | 7.208 | 14 |
The two Mercedes drivers maintained position in the second 90-minute practice session, but the gap between them had decreased. Hamilton topped the session but was just 8 hundredths of a second faster than Rosberg. The gap between the Mercedes drivers and the rest of the field had also decreased by a second, with Kevin Magnussen just 7 tenths slower than Hamilton. Kevin, along with team-mate Jenson, are still fighting for their McLaren seats as Fernando Alonso seems certain to replace one of them.
Sebastian Vettel stayed in 4th place but was now just ahead of Valtteri Bottas whose pace had improved now that all the parts of his car stayed in place. Daniel Ricciardo was 6th ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button. The British driver had a disappointing day after being affected by mechanical problems in both sessions. Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Massa completed the top 10.
Will Stevens continued his learning curve in the Caterham in preparation for his Grand Prix debut on Sunday. He ended the day 1.5 seconds slower than Kobayashi but later admitted on the radio that he had made mistakes on his fastest lap.
Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari came to a halt in FP2 for the second race in a row. It had been an engine problem in Brazil, but now it was an electrical problems as he ground to a stop under the Yas hotel. The Spaniard was unable to set a lap time in his final Friday as a Ferrari driver.
Practice 2 results:
POS. | NO. | DRIVER | CAR | BEST LAP | GAP | LAPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’42.113 | 34 | |
2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’42.196 | 0.083 | 36 |
3 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’42.895 | 0.782 | 36 |
4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’42.959 | 0.846 | 33 |
5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’43.070 | 0.957 | 34 |
6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’43.183 | 1.070 | 31 |
7 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’43.489 | 1.376 | 32 |
8 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’43.503 | 1.390 | 22 |
9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’43.546 | 1.433 | 38 |
10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’43.558 | 1.445 | 34 |
11 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’43.746 | 1.633 | 36 |
12 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’44.005 | 1.892 | 37 |
13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’44.068 | 1.955 | 32 |
14 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’44.157 | 2.044 | 38 |
15 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’44.316 | 2.203 | 37 |
16 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’44.763 | 2.650 | 36 |
17 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’44.986 | 2.873 | 34 |
18 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’45.505 | 3.392 | 38 |
19 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham-Renault | 1’47.057 | 4.944 | 33 |
20 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | No time | 2 |
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a sponsorship or sports marketing project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Sports is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Sports is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of sports sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in sports sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
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