Senna helps Renault add four new sponsors

2011 F1 season

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Bruno Senna, Renault, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Renault has announced four new sponsors, some of which have close ties to its new driver Bruno Senna.

Senna’s personal sponsor Embratel, a Brazilian telecommunications firm, will add its logos to the R31 on its sidepods as well as on Senna’s overalls, helmet and cap.

Brazilian oil and natural gas company OGX will also appear on Senna’s overalls and helmet, and on the front of the cockpit of the R31.

Gillette’s logos appeared on the car at Spa on the front wing flaps, and will add their logos to both drivers’ helmets and overalls.

Pharmaceutical company Auden MacKenzie has also joined the team and will have its logos on the car and the teams’ physiotherapists’ shirts.

Eric Boullier said: “We are delighted to welcome no fewer than four new partners to our commercial portfolio, and to what is proving to be a very exciting season of Formula 1.

“Lotus Renault GP share a common ethos with all the brands, in that we want to achieve at the very highest level through world-class professional practices. We are looking forward to prosperous relationships with all four partners in the coming months.”

Senna has been confirmed as Renault’s driver alongside Vitaly Petrov for the rest of 2011.

2011 F1 season


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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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44 comments on “Senna helps Renault add four new sponsors”

  1. No wonder Eric was saying that the team seemed happier at Spa. It wasn’t due to Senna. It was due to Senna’s money.

    1. And … what, his qualifying performance was just a bonus?

      1. I’m sure they loved him acting like his uncle at the start!

      2. Must have been a big bonus on Saturday, not that much on Sunday!

        But who knows, maybe its the other way around and these companies were so impressed with how Senna did in Spa they decided they would get on board after the weekend ;-)

    2. No it was because they weren’t suffering from drag or catching whilst having a shave!

      “Senna…The best a man can geeeeeeeeet!!!”

    3. F1 is now a sport to find out who of the filthy rich kids, is the best.

      1. You think it wasn’t before??

        1. Yeah, I agree Rob, how dare anyone get a chance because of money…. I mean who is this Fernando Alonso who even forced a WDC Raikkonen out of his seat… peh!

          And some tosser called Michael Schumacher, for a start his name is too long, and getting Mercedes-Benz to pay off Eddie Jordon is the real reason why Formula 1 has been so bad over the past…… what.. he won 7 drivers titles… oh…

  2. Looks like the sponsorship got Senna the drive!

    Either way I am happy I want Senna to be able to prove himself and do well… Shame quick Nick is gone though.

    On a side note YAY I fly to Monza tomorrow morning – Keith if I get good pic’s can I send them to you to use?

    1. Yes, and at Spa they declined it was due to sponsors that Senna got the drive. Sure thing :)

  3. Interesting that Auden MacKenzie are happy to have their logo appear on the shirts of only the physiotherapists…!!

  4. As much as I’ve liked the R31 livery – it’s one of the best-looking liveries on one of the best-looking cars – I have found it a bit strange that the GENII logo appeared on the sidepods because they’re not really a company that customers can interact with they way they can some of these companies.

    1. F1 advertising is a bit different to other sports. It’s much more about business to business, and a lot less about selling to the public. Those that advertise reep huge benefits from forming business partnerships through the hospitality suites. Big businesses use F1 to not only network and look for new opportunities but also to enforce and preserve existing ones. Hence we are often left wondering who some of these companies are and what do they do!!!

  5. The R31 is already choc-a-block full of sponsor names and logo’s I’m surprised they found room for all these new ones!

    1. It’ll be like the Minardi’s of old with gazillions of little sponsor stickers all over the car to make ends meet (complete with drivers to go with that)

  6. Keith,

    Out of interest how do sponsorship deals like this happen exactly?

    I remember years back that little teams in the early 90’s would sign experienced drivers partly for the ‘sponsorship money they bring’ with sponsors like Marlboro appearing in corners of the cars. Is this because of a deal the driver has with the sponsor?

    Just like Sutil has money from Median, it seems a little odd that drivers can walk into a team and start being influential in getting stickers on the car.

    1. Is this because of a deal the driver has with the sponsor?

      Sometimes, teams will take a driver who has sponsors in order to keep themselves afloat. Other times, they will ask the drivers to put together a sponsorship package to secure a seat.

      Pay drivers get a bad rap, largely because of the 1980s and 1990s when anyone who fancied himself as a racing driver could buy a seat on the grid if he had some connections. But these days, most drivers have personal sponsors who attach themselves to the most talented drivers because that money will help them get into the higher levels of the sport – and the sponsors will too.

      1. Couldnt agree more PM. Young Bruno has definately got the talent. And as a bonus, he has got some pretty good backing too.
        People tend to confuse this situation, say with the one of Yamamoto last year (putting his hands in his family’s pockets for the drive)

  7. Good on Senna and Renault. As PM points out, pay drivers of today are a very different thing to the 80’s and 90’s.

    It’s amazing to think that only two years ago Renault were caught up in a scandal and loosing sponsors every race. Their car at the end of 2009 was nearly empty of sponsorship. Now it’s covered in logos.

  8. Lucky for Renault this pay driver is also competent enough to get the car where it should be. If he wasn’t, they’d still probably have taken him, which is an indication of how far Renault have fallen in recent years.

    1. One suspects that when Heidfeld wasn’t delivering as expected, Renault discreetly turned down their development program and redirected the funds to the 2012 car in anticipcation of Kubica’s return.

      1. Ive got a feeling that Renault/Genii//Lotus (or whatever) arent waiting for Kubica; and Morelli is very busy man right now, I imagine.

  9. Speaking of Senna, one would guess that he should replace Nick Heidfield at the bottom on the 2011 F1 Drivers tab?

    Anyhow, on subject: Confirms what people already suspected, money hepled to secure Senna’s seat. Hopefully his tallent will shine through and make this a worthy thing to have done.

    1. one would guess that he should replace Nick Heidfield at the bottom on the 2011 F1 Drivers tab?

      And in the Twitter Directory, and a few other places. It’s on the to-do list. Priority stuff that had to be done right away like the form guides and biographies have already been taken care of:

      Bruno Senna biography
      Nick Heidfeld biography
      Bruno Senna 2011 form guide

      1. And while ur at it, why is D’Ambrosio still not a link like all the others?

    2. Confirms what people already suspected, money hepled to secure Senna’s seat

      Most drivers have financial support of some kind. There’s maybe half a dozen who don’t. It’s one of the reasons why Nico Hulkenberg was dropped by Williams last year – he refused to find sponsors when the team asked him to.

      1. Illustrative of this point is Alonso, who was one reason the Santander deal with Ferrari is about a very big amount of money (and before that, with McLaren which they now keep bc. HAM,BUT help their UK brand).

  10. Well that should make Renault happy & if it continues then they will also be happy in 2012.

  11. Good for Senna and Renault that they can get some more money into the team, but it does put Eric Boullier’s comments (The change has nothing to do with money; do you see any new sponsors on our shirts?!) in a slightly different light.

    1. Why is it that everyone assumes it’s all about money simply because a team gets new sponsors?

      The Senna name is perhaps the most famous in motorsport, and the decision to replace Nick Heidfeld didn’t just happen overnight. The Belgian Grand Prix came one month after the Hungarian, and the team was clearly unhappy with Heidfeld before that. They would have no doubt talked to their reserve drivers. As soon as word broke that Senna was in line for a drive with Renault, potential sponsors would have been lining up to join him, looking to get their name on the Renault R31. After all, Gilette was the only new sponsor on the car at Spa – what’s to say that OGX, Embratel and Auden McKenzie did not agree to sponsor him until they had seen his first performance?

      1. Why is it that everyone assumes it’s all about money simply because a team gets new sponsors?

        That’s not what I said. It’s just that I found Boullier’s reaction to be quite strong, and now quite silly given the new sponsorship interest. I thought that Bruno Senna himself was more realistic, saying there were commercial possibilities.

  12. There is no point beating a driver up for getting a ride because of sponsorship, your very own Di Resta got a drive this year because he brought Whyte and Mckay sponsorship as a bonus.

    1. I’m not “beating” anyone up and I have no connection to Paul di Resta whatsoever.

    2. Di Resta got a drive this year because he brought Whyte and Mckay sponsorship as a bonus.

      Really? Di Resta only got a drive in the Vijay Mallya owned Force India team because he brought sponsorship from the Vijay Mallya owned Whyte & MacKay brewery???

      1. Yeah, it was just Mallya used the Scot he just signed up (coming with a price redux for the mercedes engines) to give Whyte&MacKay a bit more Scotch in the image.

    3. Am I right in thinking the Whyte and Mckay logo has been on the cars since 09?

      1. Whyte and Mckay was brought by ub group in 2007 and Vijay Mallya is owner of ub group.

  13. Gillette and Nick Heidfeld certainly wouldn’t have been a match made in heaven :)

    1. He would have had to shave first time in a year! Might have been quite a good sponsor event even :-D

      1. Brodcast live worldwide – Nick Heidfeld shaving! :D

  14. This will make for an interesting competition between Senna and Petrov, not only competing on track but also with their wallets to retain their 2012 seat.
    If Bruno has rolled in enough $$ to match Petrov’s, I’d say he’s a better bet for ‘Team Bahar’. Brazilian F1 fans are dying for a new, GOOD, talent to emerge in F1 with Rubens retiring and Felipe floundering, who better than a rookie with the right last name.

  15. sorryA fast driver who brings sponsors…what else would a team want!?

  16. Eric Boullier said: “We are delighted to welcomeno fewerthan four new partners to our commercial portfolio, and to what is proving to be a very exciting season of Formula 1.

    Exciting? Half way through the season and consistently lacking in development?

    Pull the other one, Eric.

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