Before you get all excited about the thought of Infiniti fielding a team in the top echelon of motorsport, Formula 1, note that the Japanese luxury brand is only acting as a sponsor for an existing team, in this case championship holder Red Bull Racing.
Infiniti has only announced a marketing agreement with Red Bull Racing, covering the 2011 and 2012 F1 seasons. You’ll recall that the Red Bull Racing cars are powered by Renault engines and Infiniti, of course, is part of the Renault-Nissan alliance, so the latest collaboration is only fitting.
As part of the latest agreement, Infiniti will have a high-profile branding presence on the Red Bull Racing cars, drivers clothing and related team uniforms and equipment.
In addition to the branding and marketing relationship, Infiniti will work with Renault to forge future technical collaboration with Red Bull Racing. Hopefully, some of those developments will filter across to Infiniti’s road cars.
It’s interesting to see that while Nissan dominates the FIA GT series with its GT-R race cars, Infiniti is building its presence in the world of F1. It’s also interesting to see that Infiniti is also linked with Mercedes-Benz though the recent Daimler and Renault-Nissan alliance deal, and now it will be competing directly with the Daimler-backed Mercedes GP F1 team.
