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By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted July 2, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Nico Rosberg has finished as the fastest driver in both Friday practice sessions for this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This was despite missing out on a majority of practice one thanks to a hydraulic issue. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is attempting to win his 3rd British Grand Prix, struggled especially in the second session with setup problems.
Nico Rosberg topped the first 90 minute practice session of the British Grand Prix weekend despite having one of the smallest tally of laps under his belt. Rosberg had to pull his car off of the circuit after just 5 laps at the start of the session after a hydraulic problem. The team got him back out with a few minutes remaining in the session, which was enough time for Nico to get to the top of the time-sheets.
Lewis Hamilton led the way in front of his home crowd for much of the session until his team-mate pipped him. He was just 7 hundredths of a second down on his team-mate; with the pair having over a second advantage over their rivals. It wasn’t plain sailing for Hamilton however, as he suffered a spin at the exit of Stowe in the early moments of the session.
Toro Rosso were perhaps surprisingly the closest contenders to Mercedes in the first session. Teenager Max Verstappen was 3rd fastest, 1.3 seconds down on Rosberg. Team-mate Sainz followed in 5th, with Kimi Raikkonen slotting his Ferrari between the Toro Rosso pair in 4th. Raikkonen’s team-mate Vettel followed in the second Ferrari in 6th place; with 2 tenths separating Verstappen in 3rd from Vettel in 6th.
Red Bull team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were separated by a few mere hundredths in 7th and 8th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa who completed the top 10 in the session.
3 reserve/test drivers made appearances during the first practice session. The trio all stayed together on the time-sheets too. Susie Wolff was in Valtteri Bottas’ Williams for FP1 at the track where she made her Grand Prix weekend debut a year ago. The session went much easier for her this time around, with Susie finishing 13th in the session. She was just 2 hundredths of a second faster than Jolyon Palmer, who was behind the wheel of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus for the second event in a row; with the British driver finishing the session ahead of the sister car of Maldonado. Palmer was just under a tenth quicker than Sauber’s third driver Raffaele Marciello; with the three guest drivers separated by just over a tenth.
British practice 1 time-sheets:
POS |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
1’34.274 |
2 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
1’34.344 |
3 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso |
1’35.530 |
4 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
1’35.588 |
5 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toro Rosso |
1’35.669 |
6 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
1’35.739 |
7 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull |
1’35.818 |
8 |
Daniil Kvyat |
Red Bull |
1’35.876 |
9 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Force India |
1’36.157 |
10 |
Felipe Massa |
Williams |
1’36.469 |
11 |
Felipe Nasr |
Sauber |
1’36.855 |
12 |
Sergio Perez |
Force India |
1’36.889 |
13 |
Susie Wolff |
Williams |
1’37.242 |
14 |
Jolyon Palmer |
Lotus |
1’37.262 |
15 |
Raffaele Marciello |
Sauber |
1’37.372 |
16 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Lotus |
1’38.080 |
17 |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren |
1’38.222 |
18 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren |
1’38.860 |
19 |
Will Stevens |
Manor |
1’38.981 |
20 |
Roberto Merhi |
Manor |
1’40.477 |
Rosberg continued to hold the advantage over his team-mate at Silverstone in the second session, with Hamilton falling away to 4th thanks to setup issues on his car. The pair were half a second apart on the time-sheets at the end of the session, but during the long runs, Hamilton was over a second slower than his team-mate.
Lewis ended his long run early, only emerging at the end of the session for a practice start. He and the team have work to do if he wants to win his 3rd British Grand Prix on Sunday or move up to 3rd in the all-time pole positions list tomorrow.
Ferrari’s drivers placed themselves between Rosberg and Hamilton, with Raikkonen slightly ahead of Vettel again. Kimi has been under fire for the last few races for not being able to match Vettel. Criticism intensified two weeks ago after a dire Austrian Grand Prix that ended in retirement. Kimi will be hoping not to repeat his retirement at Silverstone a year go in the race on Sunday. It’s looking reasonable for Ferrari so far, with Rosberg just 4 tenths faster than them at the end of the session.
Red Bull vaulted back in front of junior team Toro Rosso in the second session, with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo taking 5th and 6th ahead of Verstappen in 7th and Sainz in 9th; Hulkenberg broke up the Red Bull backed party in 8th. Once again, Felipe Massa rounded out the top 10; with the Brazilian at one point messing up the entry to Vale as he ran along the grass.
The session was interrupted by 2 red flags, both for incidents at Luffield. The corner troubled Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean and Roberto Merhi during the session; with the latter two having red flags deployed as a result. Grosjean took up the job of dusting down his Lotus as penance, with Merhi winding up over a second down on team-mate Stevens. Manor have a new look for this weekend onwards, as the new sponsor FlexBox join the team.
British practice 2 time-sheets:
POS |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
1’34.155 |
2 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
1’34.502 |
3 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
1’34.522 |
4 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
1’34.621 |
5 |
Daniil Kvyat |
Red Bull |
1’35.009 |
6 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull |
1’35.153 |
7 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso |
1’35.300 |
8 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Force India |
1’35.387 |
9 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toro Rosso |
1’35.866 |
10 |
Felipe Massa |
Williams |
1’36.147 |
11 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Lotus |
1’36.164 |
12 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams |
1’36.183 |
13 |
Sergio Perez |
Force India |
1’36.351 |
14 |
Romain Grosjean |
Lotus |
1’36.728 |
15 |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren |
1’36.731 |
16 |
Felipe Nasr |
Sauber |
1’36.822 |
17 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren |
1’37.196 |
18 |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber |
1’37.327 |
19 |
Will Stevens |
Manor |
1’38.279 |
20 |
Roberto Merhi |
Manor |
1’39.878 |
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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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
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
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
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