Red Bull announce multi-year sponsorship deal with major online betting platform

Red Bull has announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with popular online betting platform PokerStars. The company's branding will be present on the highly-anticipated RB18 F1 car in 2022.

Amidst news of teams such as Aston Martin and Alpine losing their sponsorship deals, the Austrian team seems to have capitalized on their recent world title victory by gathering the attention of PokerStars, an online betting platform headquartered in Ireland.

As per the team's official website, the new relationship enables it to widen the audience base of both sports, helping F1 fans understand the world of poker to a greater extent, and vice versa. The website also states that PokerStars prides itself on its safe and responsible values, while still offering best-in-class entertainment to fans — something it shares with Red Bull.

Team principal Christian Horner said of the partnership:

“Following last year’s blockbuster Formula One season, I am delighted to kick off 2022 by announcing PokerStars as a new partner. In our sport, we see constant evolution, not only applied to the cars, but also to new technologies that are focused on reaching the sport’s global fanbase to provide new and interactive experiences for them to enjoy. We are pleased to welcome PokerStars to the team as F1 enjoys a period of growth in new and existing territories, and look forward to getting the 2022 season underway together.”

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Red Bull to hire Mercedes engine expert in 2022

Constructors' world champion Mercedes has allowed the transfer of engine expert Ben Hodgkinson to their rival team in May. The signing was announced last year, but will be carried out later this year.

Hodgkinson, who was the head of mechanical engineering at the Brackley-based team, will become the Austrian team's technical director of engines in 2022. The Mercedes team said in a statement:

“Mercedes F1 and Red Bull today reached an agreement regarding the appointment of Ben Hodgkinson. Under the terms of that agreement, Ben who joined Mercedes in August 2001, will be free to join Red Bull Powertrains from 24 May, 2022.”

The move comes after Christian Horner's team allowed their chief engineer for aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, to move to Aston Martin, which is a customer team for Mercedes.

While it is unclear whether Hodgkinson's experience in power unit development will help Horner's team defend Max Verstappen's world title in 2022, fans are excited about this new era for both teams.

The 2022 battle between Red Bull and Mercedes has already begun, with both sides hard at work to try and make the most of the highly-anticipated regulatory changes.