Sauber partners with the British football club Chelsea

In China, the inscription “Out of the blue” was visible on the engine covers of Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber C31. In Bahrain, one could read “True Blue” there. This piqued the curiosity of some observers who tried to guess who was behind these two slogans.

The American telecommunications company AT&T was mentioned, as well as Samsung and the Canadian beer brand Labatt. Another possibility was a partnership with the London football club Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

And the information was confirmed yesterday, it is indeed Chelsea that becomes a sponsor of the Sauber F1 team – their logo will be visible on the C31 from the Spanish Grand Prix. This F1/Football partnership is a first of its kind according to Monisha Kaltenborn, who leads the Swiss team: « A partnership like this one between Formula 1 and Football has never existed before in this form, even though there are many similarities and possible synergies. In both cases, we are talking about team sports at the highest level. The Sauber F1 team and Chelsea FC face identical sporting and commercial issues, and we want to strengthen ourselves in these areas. We look forward to exploiting these opportunities, and we congratulate Chelsea for reaching the Champions League final (the European Cup). »

This partnership should notably result in the creation of merchandising items – such as clothing, but also joint offers between the two companies. Sauber’s logo will be displayed by Chelsea during its home matches, and Chelsea’s logo will appear on the C31s of the Hinwil team, allowing both teams to try to attract more fans in Asia or Latin America in particular.