sauber

Jose Cuervo Tequila to Sponsor Sauber F1 Team

As tequila enters the mainstream as a premium spirit alongside the likes of vodka and whisky, so will it need a platform to promote itself. And few fora are proving as fitting as motor racing.

After rival distiller Patron promoted its sponsorship of individual teams in the American Le Mans Series to title sponsorship of the entire championship, Jose Cuervo has announced a new deal that takes them straight to the very pinnacle of motor racing: Formula One. The tequila company will be sponsoring the Sauber F1 team, and announced the deal shortly after the team signed Mexican driver Sergio Perez to race its cars this season.

Although Sauber may not be among the top teams today, it has fielded some of the best drivers in the sport, including world champions Kimi Raikkonen, Jacques Villeneuve and Sebastian Vettel. Though its best results came during the BMW years in 2007 and 2008 when it placed second and third in the championship, the team has since returned to using Ferrari engines.

Tags: cuervo, f1, formula 1, formula one, Jose Cuervo, sauber, sauber f1, sauber f1 team, tequila

Formula One Drivers and Staff Ambushed by Gunmen in Brazil

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Formula One drivers are used to making quick getaways, but found themselves in harm's way last weekend in Brazil. While in Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the car carrying the defending world champion Jenson Button was attacked by a gang of gunmen. The armored vehicle was driven by a police officer away from the scene of the ambush, delivering Button to safety. The famous McLaren driver praised his driver's abilities, which comes as quite the compliment coming from the world champion.

Button wasn't the only F1 figure attacked during the race weekend, however, as additional reports depicted an attack on a van full of the Sauber team's staff. In this case armed bandits stopped the van at gunpoint and made off with the staff members' bags. Fortunately no one was harmed in this incident either.

Despite the attacks, figures in F1 are not calling for removing the event from next year's calendar, crediting the government with doing all its best to improve socio-economic conditions in Brazil and reducing crime rates, while refusing to blame race organizers for what happens off the track.

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Tags: brazil, brazilian grand prix, f1, formula 1, formula one, grand prix, jenson button, sao paulo, sauber

BMW Reportedly Defrauded in Formula One Sale

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Back in 2005, BMW shocked the Formula One racing world by announcing it would leave its longtime partner Williams F1 in order to acquire its rival Sauber. But after four years of racing, the economy tanked and the coffers ran dry. BMW announced it would withdraw from the sport, leaving Sauber to look for a new investor.

A new investor was found, but reports now indicate that the deal could have been an elaborate fraud. The buyer was identified as Qadbak Investments, a mysterious Swiss firm that had recently acquired a football club in England and which was supposedly backed by wealthy Middle Eastern investors who preferred to keep a low profile. After an exhaustive chase of paper trails and dummy companies, it now appears that Qadbak is nothing but a front for one Russell King, a British national based in Dubai previously convicted of fraud.

According to the report, King was planning on using Sauber as a means to tap into the revenue sharing scheme in Formula One, worth tens of millions of euros.

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Tags: bmw, bmw sauber, BmwSauber, f1, formula 1, formula one, Formula1, FormulaOne, qadbak, qadbak investments, QadbakInvestments, russell king, RussellKing, sauber