Saudi investment boosts Fernando Alonso’s brand

Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco will promote the Aston Martin brand that Fernando Alonso will drive in the F1 World Cup.An investment of €647 million. And a car that surprises in pre-season testing. A Madrid dealer sells cars from this luxury company for over €200,000. At this point, the middle class already wants hats and shirts from Asturian pilots, and his number 33, the victory Alonso seeks, is in vogue.

When Alonso and Aston Martin formalized their relationship from this season on 1 August 2022, the British team occupied 9th out of 10 places in the F1 constructors’ classification.

Surprise announcement with €400,000 profit in social brand value after exit of German Sebastian Vettel According to MVP, a company that specializes in this type of measurement, in the case of Aston Martin, it is the revenue generated from the influence of publications on social networks.

7 months later Aston Martin has become one of the teams to consider for the 2023 season which starts in Bahrain.A circuit that was 2.371 seconds faster during testing than in the same scenario a year earlier, according to F1’s own data.

The progress Alonso himself pondered in public after admitting it was preseason.

“Slightly faster than Ferrari in final day race simulationThe driver from Asturias, a two-time F1 World Champion in 2005 and 2006, said:

Lawrence Stroll and the capital of Saudi Arabia

These are the first green chutes of the project born in 2018 when the F1 Force India team went bankrupt. in season. Canadian tycoon Lawrence Stroll bought the team, paid off his debts, placed his son Lance as a driver and began laying the groundwork for the team it is today.

The final step was the acquisition of 18.3% of the Aston Martin car brand.

He also took advantage of the difficult moments facing the British company to repeat the operation.also allowed the extinct Force India, then called Racing Point, to bear the Aston Martin name.

A maneuver that saw Aston Martin rise 25% in the stock market.

A reference character in F1’s ‘paddock’, Lawrence Stroll has made a fortune with various investments in luxury clothing brands and is passionate about cars.

In his garage lies the Ferrari 250 GT0, the world’s most expensive car after being auctioned for 45.3 million euros in 2021. According to Forbes, Stroll’s fortune is €2.944 billion.

Because of this, he made his passion a big investmentIn a project that would not have been able to attract Fernando Alonso had it not been for Saudi Arabia’s commitment to Aston Martin.

The British brand’s main sponsor is Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco, which also sponsors F1. An entity that has gone from mere sponsorship to being involved in the brand’s ambitious projects through investment.

“This partnership reflects Aramco’s commitment to the vision, determination and ability of Aston Martin’s management and competitive teams to drive continued progress and success in Formula 1.”

State-owned Saudi Arabia, home to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) run by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Purchased 16.7% of Aston Martin in July 2022 with a capital injection of €647 million., according to specialized media. The move again had a positive effect on the stock market, as the British brand’s share price rose 20% for him.

The Saudi nation is thus the second largest shareholder of Aston Martin, which has changed the paradigm and brought together more and more brands.

His car is full of sponsorships in F1 where deals are on the riseIn addition to the two main partners, there are 24 brands that want to partner with Aston Martin. Banks, crane companies, sunglasses, insurance, social networks… Projects intrigue.

BETTER FACILITIES, BETTER PURPOSE

But success doesn’t just come from financial investments. Thus, Lawrence Stroll’s ambitious goal of “winning” goes through the team’s new facility. Covering a surface area of ​​35,000 square meters, from Northamptonshire to F1’s heartland of Silverstone, it is located 26 kilometers away in the UK.

New factory, new wind tunnel – they’re using Mercedes’ now, a key factor to analyze improvements Before we take them out on the track, we work hand-in-hand with state-of-the-art equipment and its “title partner,” the technology company Cognizant, to check the condition of the car.

Aston Martin, which will be operational from mid-2023, is investing around $225 million, according to plans announced by the team.

The plan – the ‘mission’ as Fernando Alonso is known in social networks at this stage – is to win in the medium term.what was seen in the Bahrain test became ’33’ or ‘how 33?

Alonsophan phenomenon

According to Google Trends, a tool designed to understand user search patterns, The ’33’ peaked at 96 out of 100 on the first day of pre-season when Fernando Alonso finished second. 100 of 100 after 1 day, the highest above “How what 33?”.

On Twitter, both were trending during and after the test. And his number 33, reflected in the F1 World Champion’s trophy shared by the official account of the contest itself, was a last urge for fans wishing to reminisce about times past and better times.

Interest beyond the virtual worldAt one of the brand’s main dealers in Madrid, where he supplied him with one of the cars awarded to the Spanish driver for his contract, they were inspired by the appearance of Fernando Alonso. I noticed.

“I’ve noticed that there are a lot of inquiries about merchandising, and I get 5-6 calls a day. People recognize us more. Also, this ‘merchandising’ is gifting the customer who bought the car,’ they assure her EFE from his Tayre dealer.

There are several branded products, from shirts that look like the number “14” and surname Alonso are footballers, to caps, coats and sweatshirts … also from his partner Lance Stroll But Asturian you enter the team website.

Of course, car sales well over €200,000 will start to pay off when the competition starts this weekend.

“It’s still early. Yes, I think we can evoke more interest from people and potential buyers of this type of car get to know us and put us on their radar more, but It’s early, if the results are good and we’re on the podium, we’ll notice it in the sales,” the Madrid dealer pointed out.

We have some results to start counting from this weekend, but the base is set. Visible faces like Fernando Alonso that add value to the brand, signatures of elite engineers at Red Bull (Dan Farrows) and Mercedes (Eric Brandin), new facilities and different sources of income. A mission takes shape.