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Red Bull Racing have announced in the build-up to the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season that they had extended their partnership with title sponsors Oracle.
Oracle became the title sponsor of Red Bull in 2022, after Max Verstappen had just won his first world championship.
The American software company are one of the 20 largest companies in the world, and first started sponsoring Red Bull in 2021.
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Oracle have timed the start of their relationship perfectly, with last year being the first time that they hadn’t backed Red Bull during a championship-winning campaign.
This was enough to convince them to extend their agreement with Laurent Mekies’ team into 2026 and beyond.
Speaking exclusively to F1 Oversteer, GRV Media’s finance and governance expert, Adam Williams, has explained how important Oracle’s new deal is for Red Bull, especially during the cost cap era of Formula 1.
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New Oracle sponsorship deal could provide Red Bull with ‘£375m’ of ‘guaranteed revenue’
Reflecting on the new deal with Red Bull and Oracle, Williams said: “I think it’s telling that Oracle are framing this partnership as geared towards ‘data-driven performance’. In all sports, we’re seeing AI and cloud companies spending big to associate themselves with top brands. And it’s not just about exposure – it’s about association.
“Oracle are worth nearly $500bn, and everyone they are marketing to has already heard of them, so they don’t necessarily need to reach more people. Instead, it’s about positioning the brand as an authority and associating with sports teams that share the same principles.
“Clearly, Red Bull fit the mould here. They are data-centric, elite, and high-performance. These are all qualities that Oracle wants to convey to. I appreciate this all sounds a bit buzzwordy, but this is how these sponsorship deals work.
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“In terms of the value of the deal, it’s one of the most valuable in sport at about £75m annually.
“As far as I can see, there’s been no word about how long the extension is, but I would expect it to be at least five years. So it’s £375m of guaranteed revenue for Red Bull.
“When you have that amount of money locked in, it gets a lot easier to set budgets seasons in advance.
“You have to nurture the relationship with the sponsor, of course, but it also allows you to focus your attention elsewhere, safe in the knowledge that that revenue is accounted for.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies
Red Bull deal with Oracle eases cost cap concerns during the 2026 F1 season
Formula 1 teams in the past were allowed to throw nearly unlimited resources at their cars over the course of a season, meaning that the biggest manufacturers typically had an advantage.
All 11 teams now adhere to the FIA’s cost cap, with Red Bull falling foul of the regulations as recently as 2021.
However, with Formula 1 introducing new regulations this season, manufacturers will be developing far more updates and potentially producing more parts than in the past, with reliability unlikely to be as guaranteed as last year.
Liam Lawson has his simulator work monitored over the winter due to the cost cap, which could potentially leave him on the back foot this season.
As recently as 2024, Red Bull have had cost cap concerns, and after building their first-ever power unit, there’s a chance that their new engine will need more attention than rivals Ferrari and Mercedes.
That’s where Oracle’s new deal comes in, giving Mekies’ team more leeway than before in terms of where their income is going to come from when covering these costs.
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