Charles Leclerc (MON) will be competing for Ferrari in the Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai, China, on 21.04.2024.
According to Sports Business, Ferrari is about to welcome HP as its first major sponsor since 2021. This deal is comparable to Red Bull’s partnership with Oracle. The collaboration with Hewlett Packard (HP) is estimated to be around $90 to $100 million and will be announced in Miami. In addition to sponsorship, Ferrari and HP will also enter into a technological partnership. This deal will start when Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari.
Previously, Ferrari had a title partnership with Mission Winnow, thanks to an agreement with Philip Morris International (PMI), a US-based tobacco brand. However, the new partnership with HP marks a significant change for Ferrari.
For Formula 1 fans in the early 2000s, HP’s involvement with Williams BMW is still fresh in their minds. At that time, Ferrari had a sponsorship deal with PMI’s Marlboro, which was allowed due to the acceptance of tobacco advertising in the sport.
This collaboration with HP follows Ferrari’s recent partnership with Peroni. The Italian team has been actively seeking partnerships with major brands, and these commercial moves coincide with the hiring of two executives from AC Milan, a prominent Italian football club.
In January 2023, Lorenzo Giorgetti, a former executive at AC Milan, joined Ferrari as Executive Director of Racing Revenue. Then, in July 2023, Ferrari hired George Prior, who previously worked as AC Milan’s Director of Commercial Strategy, to become the Head of Partnership Asset Management at Scuderia.
The announcement of the partnership with HP in Miami will also be accompanied by a modified paint job for the Ferrari. The team will pay homage to its classic blue and white color scheme of the North American Racing Team (NART), incorporating touches of blue into its exclusive Miami paint job.
