The 2024 season began with AlphaTauri rebranding itself as Visa Cash App RB. The Faenza-based team decided to rebrand themselves as they failed to achieve the objectives they had set out as AlphaTauri. The Italian outfit’s rebranding began with partnering with two American companies: Visa and Cash App. Now, a Saudi Arabian bank, Alrajhi Bank, which recently reported an income of a whopping $4.4 billion, has joined the Visa Cash App RB F1 team as a sponsor.
Fans spotted the team’s new sponsors on the crew’s kits. Alrajhi Bank is not only one of the biggest banks in the Middle East but also in the entire world, as the company has a market cap of $96.81 billion. The bank has branches in Kuwait and Jordan and subsidiaries in Malaysia and Syria.
Not only are Saudi Arabian companies interested in F1, but also the country’s government. There was a time when Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund also considered adding F1 to its portfolio, as per bloomberg.com.
Although their attempt failed, the country is finding other ways to increase its partnership with F1. As per motorsportmagazine.com, the Saudi Arabian government pays F1 a staggering $53 million yearly to host the race in their country.
When compared to other venues, only Azerbaijan and Qatar are believed to pay an amount as high as Saudi Arabia. However, even though Saudi Arabia pays such a high amount to F1, it has not stopped the country from getting embroiled in controversies.
How did Saudi Arabia’s involvement in F1 trigger a massive controversy?
After reports emerged that Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund was considering buying F1 for $20 billion, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued a controversial post. The 62-year-old took to X and claimed that the FIA wants to be “cautious” before they add “inflated price tags” on F1.
Soon after Ben Sulayem put up his post, he landed in hot waters with Liberty Media, the owners of F1. The American company sent a letter to the FIA and labeled Ben Sulayem’s remarks “unacceptable.”
Via their letter, Liberty Media also threatened the FIA by stating that the governing body would be responsible if F1 suffered any drop in valuation because of Ben Sulayem’s remarks. The letter also made it clear that the FIA has no say over the commercial rights of F1. A part of the letter read (as quoted by foxsports.com.au),
“The FIA has given unequivocal undertakings that it will not do anything to prejudice the ownership, management, and/or exploitation of those rights“.
Although this matter emerged at the start of last year, the tensions between the FIA and F1 have not reduced. The two bodies remain at loggerheads whenever an issue involving control over the sport comes to the fore.
