Formula 1 says goodbye to Tata as marketing partner
Formula 1 and marketing partner Tata Communications have parted company after eight years working together.
The decision to end their deal - which began in 2012 - appears to have come from Tata's side, with the Indian company saying that it had achieved all it had wanted to from the relationship.
"We have decided to bring to a close our marketing partnership with F1," Amit Sinha Roy, Tata’s Vice President of Marketing, explained on Friday.
"As we had achieved what we set out to do, we feel it’s the right time for us to conclude this marketing partnership."
As well as F1 as a whole, Tata also has sponsorship deals with both individual teams Mercedes and Williams.
“While our marketing partnership concluded on December 31 2019, we continue working with many of our F1 customers and partners behind the scenes for now."
Forbes business magazine estimated that the loss of the Tata partnership would cost Formula 1 about $4 million per year, meaning that the deal will have had a total worth of around $26 million since its inception.
It's the latest business setback for the sport's owners since Liberty Media took over at the start of 2017. Two other significant backers - insurers Allianz and bankers UBS - have also cut their ties with F1 in recent years.
However, Tata insisted that there was no suggestion of bad feelings or disagreements with F1's management, only that the time had come to move on.
"Our eight-year F1 journey, spanning 150-plus races, was all about driving innovation in the sport," Roy said. "Over the years we have evolved our services portfolio and capabilities.
“We started this partnership in 2012 with the mission to digitally transform the sport whilst raising awareness of our global networking expertise amongst our enterprise customers.
“We’re proud of the fact that for eight years, we played central role in the digital transformation of F1 and its entire ecosystem.
"Enabling the organisation that runs the sport, Formula 1, to innovate; helping the reigning world champions Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport to win; and working with 20-plus broadcasters to bring the action to millions of fans worldwide.
“Our work in F1 also paved the way for new customer relationships with leading broadcasters like Sky and Star Sports, to which we remain committed.
"[Now we will] explore other platforms that will allow us to showcase the full power of our digital services to our key customers."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
The post Formula 1 says goodbye to Tata as marketing partner appeared first on F1i.com.