Infiniti is allegedly spending $92 million to sponsor Red Bull Racing. Here’s why.

SINGAPORE — When the starting lights go out and Sebastian Vettel floors the accelerator at tomorrow night’s Singapore Grand Prix, there will be just one clear goal for the four-time World Champion: to cross the line in first place.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Vettel has won it every year since 2011 and his objective remains the same each time he’s in town.

But away from the track he has another, lesser-known but perhaps equally important mission. He has to convince people to buy Infiniti’s cars.

Indirectly, success on the track for Red Bull is meant to translate into success on the showroom floor for Infiniti.

Last year, the luxury division of Nissan Motors became title sponsors of Red Bull Racing in a deal rumoured to be worth 60 million Euros (S$92 million) over four years.

Infiniti executives declined to confirm on the value of the sponsorship package when queried by CarBuyer, but the carmaker is very clear on why it decided to tie up with the team. “Engineers and designers need inspiration,” says Francois Bacon, vice president of product strategy at Infiniti.

Watching Red Bull in action at each Grand Prix weekend provides a lot of motivation for Infiniti’s employees, he says. “That’s something we value about this partnership,” adds Bancon. “A company needs spirit.”

The partnership is more than a marriage of marketing convenience, in other words. Indeed, for Red Bull Racing the relationship with Infiniti brings with it some engineering clout.

“It opens up technologies that previously wouldn’t have been available to Red Bull,” explains team principal Christian Horner.

Although Red Bull Racing has been remarkably successful  — the team has scooped up four driver’s titles and four Constructor’s championships in just 10 years in Formula One — Horner seems to consider the team an underdog compared to heavyweights like Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari. That’s where a technical spouse comes in handy.

“We don’t have the depth of R&D knowledge and know-how that an automotive producer such as Infiniti have,” he says. “For us it’s opened up Pandora’s Box in many respects, to be able to look at techniques and know-how that Infiniti have within their R&D.”

Engineers do stints at both organisations, and Infiniti has at least one engineer based full-time at Red Bull’s headquarters in Milton Keynes.

Eventually, the collaboration is expected to bear tangible fruit for Infiniti’s would-be customers. Horner points to the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge prototype as a good example. World champion Vettel has worked with Infiniti’s engineers to fine-tune its handling, and if it makes it to production it would serve as a high-octane ‘halo car’ for Infiniti.

The car has a twin-turbo, 3.8-litre engine with 560 horsepower, and F1-inspired aerodynamic bodywork. “That’s the first, if you like, toe in the water for the two organisations,” says Horner.

Indeed, the Eau Rouge is one clear example of the collaboration’s inspirational value. “Just to decide to make this car is somehow a result of Red Bull Racing,” says Infiniti’s Bancon. “Before, we just didn’t think about it.”

That said, involvement in F1 does not always result in glory. BMW, Honda and Toyota all fielded teams in the sport in recent years, only to pull out when the sport became prohibitively expensive. Red Bull Racing itself arose from the ashes of Jaguar Racing, which was sold by Ford to the drinks company for a symbolic US$1.

Yet, none of the above car companies are exactly struggling in terms of profit or sales today, so how much did they need Formula One in the end?

“It didn’t do much for them because they didn’t win. They left when it suited them,” says Horner. “Formula One is a fantastic sport. It’s got one of the biggest followings in sport outside of the World Cup.”

Around half a billion people tune in to a Grand Prix, some estimates say, and Horner says that Infiniti has received more press coverage this year than any other car manufacturer in F1.

And that’s something the Japanese carmaker needs. Bancon freely admits that the 25 year old brand was far too focused on the USA in its early days, and enjoyed little recognition elsewhere in the world as a result. In one familiarity survey, he says, nine out of 10 respondents thought Infiniti was the name of a bank. “We had a problem,” he says.

Since F1, awareness has exceed 75 percent. “People now know who we are, what we do and what we stand for,” says Bancon.

That might well be a factor in the brand’s recent results. Infiniti sold a record 101,220 cars around the world in the first six months of 2014, up 30 percent compared to a year ago.

It will need all the brand awareness in can get, too, as it aims for major expansion.

Over the next five years Infiniti’s product portfolio will grow 60 percent to include eight different sedan and coupe lines, and six crossover and SUV lines. The number of engines and transmissions will more than double, with plans for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full electric powertrains.

By 2020, Nissan wants Infiniti sales to exceed half a million cars a year. By winning in Singapore and elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel or teammate Daniel Ricciardo could in some way be considered the most successful car salesmen in the world.