Ferrari loses blockchain partner, adds two new sponsors

Charles Leclerc, Mexican GP 2022

© Ferrari

Ferrari has not renewed the sponsorship agreement with blockchain giant Velas, and the company’s name will disappear from the Scuderia’s website this Thursday.

The uncertainty surrounding the bitcoin market started with a bang two months ago, with the collapse of FTX, and while Mercedes was the only Formula 1 team directly affected by the collapse – as FTX was one of their sponsors – the rest of the field quickly realized that the crisis in the bitcoin market was going to hit them all.

In one of his last statements as Ferrari team principal, speaking at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix, immediately after FTX’s collapse, Mattia Binotto warned that “this is certainly something we have to look after and be careful. So we” are re-monitoring it , because there is nothing we can do at the moment. It is very difficult to know and predict, so we monitor. And of course for what is related to our situation, but so far everything is stable and not a problem.”

Two months later the situation changed, with Velas also feeling the impact of the crisis, so it is not surprising that the deal between the blockchain and Ferrari was not renewed, hitting the Scuderia’s finances in the same way that the loss of FTX hit Mercedes.

But big, successful teams are always the least affected by these kinds of situations, and while Ferrari also appears to have cut ties with Snapdragon, a Qualcomm-owned company whose line of system-on-a-chip semiconductor products for mobile devices is there are two new names on the team’s website indicating that two new sponsors and partners will join the team from this year.

Cyber ​​security company Bitdefender and software solutions HCL now have their logos on display on Scuderia Ferrari’s website and will be announced as team partners early next week, when the marketing and communications departments are back at work in Maranello after a short break over Christmas and the New Year.

And while the two deals may not make up for the loss of the previous two, especially Velas’ as this was a major sponsor last season, what they will bring, along with the much increased prize money Ferrari will collect from finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship after being only sixth in 2021 will more than make up for the downfall, team insiders admitting that the team’s operating budget will actually increase by around 20 million euros.