Red Bull Race Cars with NFTs

Non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital token that is maintained on a blockchain and represents a work of art or other object whose history can be followed by the general public.

Max Verstappen finished first in the driver’s seat for the second straight season, and Red Bull Racing won the F1 season and constructors’ championship. In preparation for this year’s final Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull Racing’s vehicles will have an NFT avatar. Red Bull Racing, including main team partner Bybit and Azuki’s developer Chiru Labs, made F1 history by sponsoring and showcasing an NFT built on the Tezos Blockchain for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. A high-profile NFT participating or even appearing in a competitive race with such high stakes as Formula 1 has never happened before. Lei, Lightning Azuki, is an NFT artwork, and a character from the anime-inspired Azuki collection will appear next to the exchange’s logo.

Red Bulls Racing team principal Christian Horner highlighted the partnership’s ongoing investigation into Web3 use cases in a statement: “In many ways it has been an eye-opener for us to the enormous possibilities Web3 offers. This unique project is the perfect combination of creativity, innovation and passion, which matches our ethos on the pitch.”

One of the 10,000 original Lei Azuki NFTs is part of this collection. Fans will have the chance to purchase a limited edition Lightning Azuki replica to commemorate the record-breaking season and unprecedented event experienced by the teams. 8,494 NFTs will be created on the Tezos blockchain and distributed for free on the Bybit NFT Marketplace on a first-come, first-served basis.

With its main sponsor OKX, McLaren has made history by becoming the very first team to go ahead with a livery takeover this year. In October 2022, Formula 1 also filed several trademark applications, which could indicate that the company wants to fully control intellectual property in the larger crypto market.