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 July 22, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Sauber F1 team have announced today that they will keep their current drivers Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson for next year’s Formula One world championship. The pair both joined the team for this season amid contract issues, but now they are assured of their seats for 2016.
“We have full confidence in the talents and skills of Marcus and Felipe,” said Sauber Team Princpal Monisha Kaltenborn, “Both have shown solid performances, gained experience and learnt quickly. We enjoy having them in the team and they give it a positive boost.”
“Despite their young ages, they work very professionally – on as well as off the track. Marcus and Felipe are already involved in a very dedicated way with the development of next year’s Sauber C35.”
Kaltenborn also commented that the early re-signing of Nasr and Ericsson “shows that the drivers and the team are sure they are heading in the right direction”.
Nasr joined the team for his first Formula One season having been the test driver for Williams last year. Ericsson joined after a troubled year with Caterham in 2014. Despite turbulent times for the pair and the team at the start of this season, when Giedo van der Garde took them to court saying that he had a contract to race with Sauber, Nasr and Ericsson both came home in the points, with Nasr 5th and Ericsson 9th. Since then, the pre-season pace of the Sauber hasn’t materialized as much, with only 3 other points paying finishes coming to the Swiss team so far.
“It is great to be driving another season for the Sauber F1 Team,” said Nasr,
“The extension to the contract with the Sauber F1 Team is an important step in my career. During the first half of the season, in what is my rookie year, I was able to gain a lot of experience from a driving perspective as well as on the personal side.
“Finishing fifth at my first ever Formula 1 race in Melbourne in the Australian Grand Prix is so far my career highlight. Now I am looking forward to the second half of the season. My objective is to support the team as best I can, and also with regard to the development of the new car.”
Marcus Ericsson echoed his team-mate’s positive comments,
“I’m very happy that the Sauber F1 Team has put its trust in my potential for another year,” Marcus said,
“Up to now I have some good memories of my first year with the long-standing Swiss team. I had a great start from the very beginning, and it is worth mentioning my first points in Formula 1 that I scored right away during the season-opener.
“I am getting to know everyone within the team more and more, and feel I am being appreciated as a valuable driver. I feel honoured to be part of the Sauber Motorsport family, and I will continue to do my very best to succeed.”
In terms of driver announcements, it is still quite early for teams to be confirming their 2016 line-ups. Ferrari usually like to have their drivers confirmed by the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. So an announcement as to whether the rumors that Valtteri Bottas is set to replace Kimi Raikkonen next year are true could be expected around then.
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.
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blogFebruary 3, 2025
Formula 1 is a sport that combines technology, precision engineering and performance at the limit, and it often raises questions even about aspects that seem taken for granted in the world of[...]
Read MoreFebruary 3, 2025
The recent sponsorship agreement between Alpine and the Yamaha Pramac MotoGP team has captured the attention of motorsport insiders and fans, marking a significant shift in the industry&rsquo[...]
Read MoreFebruary 2, 2025
Formula 1 single-seaters are equipped with power steering, a system that facilitates steering by reducing the effort required from the driver. This component is critical for handling the high[...]
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.
View our blogFebruary 3, 2025
Formula 1 is a sport that combines technology, precision engineering and performance at the limit, and it often raises questions even about aspects that seem taken for granted in the world of[...]
Read MoreFebruary 3, 2025
The recent sponsorship agreement between Alpine and the Yamaha Pramac MotoGP team has captured the attention of motorsport insiders and fans, marking a significant shift in the industry&rsquo[...]
Read MoreFebruary 2, 2025
Formula 1 single-seaters are equipped with power steering, a system that facilitates steering by reducing the effort required from the driver. This component is critical for handling the high[...]
Read More