Toro Rosso announces Cepsa sponsorship deal

2011 F1 season

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Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Toro Rosso has announced a major new sponsorship deal with Spanish company Cepsa.

The logos of the Spanish energy company will be displayed on the nose, rear wing and rear wing endplates of the STR6s as well as on the drivers’ overalls as of this weekend.

Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company is the major stakeholder in Cepsa.

2011 F1 season


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Keith Collantine
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11 comments on “Toro Rosso announces Cepsa sponsorship deal”

  1. i womder if Alguersari had something to do with this sponsorshop, and if he did, we know who’s staying next year

    1. Nope Alguersuari was sponsored by Repsol but his sponsorship ended he wasn’t influential in this sponsorship deal. It’s to do with the Middle Eastern links STR currently has with Falcon Private bank a Swiss bank with links to Aabar I believe & Cepsa is part of the same group as well as the IPIC.

    2. i womder if Alguersari had something to do with this sponsorshop, and if he did, we know who’s staying next year

      No. The team has said a Spanish sponsor will not be enough to save Alguersuari – if he is going to race for them next year, he will have to earn it.

      Cepsa is owned by IPIC, and Emirati conglomerate who also own the Falcon private bank and Nova Chemicals, both of whom already sponsor Toro Rosso. There has been the suggestion that IPIC could buy a controlling stake in the team and rename it for 2012, and that the Cepsa investment is to solidify their position within the team.

  2. Did they post pictures of the new Livery?
    From where those Cepsa logos should be, the only Red Bull on the car might be the nice painted one on the air box!

    And HRT were trying that hard with the “your logo here” only to see an Italian/UK, Austrian owned team take the big chips Spanish sponsor!

    1. Did they post pictures of the new Livery?
      From where those Cepsa logos should be, the only Red Bull on the car might be the nice painted one on the air box!

      No, but the article does describe where the logos will be: on the nose, the rear wing and the rear wing endplates. It’s not going to be a complete overhaul of the design.

  3. Oh, and does anyone think it might be interesting for Chepsa to also have a look at getting Bruno Senna for next year?

    1. Probably wouldn’t go down too well with Helmut Marko!

    2. I’ve heard that Franz Tost is looking at Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg as potential candidates for a drive in 2012.

      does anyone think it might be interesting for Chepsa to also have a look at getting Bruno Senna for next year?

      Right now, Senna’s future depends on two things: first of all, he has to demonstrate that his qualifying performance at Spa was not a one-off. He doesn’t necessarily need to be able to out-qualify Vitaly Petrov, but at the very least, I’d say he needs to qualify in the same group as Petrov. So if Petrov exits in Q2, Senna should at least be in Q2 himself. Especially given that Renault’s performance at a team has been consistently inconsistent since Malaysia.

      Secondly, and more importantly, he needs to be able to convert his qualifying performances into race results. While his first-corner episode at Spa was understandable – he was unfamiliar with the dry Pirellis – it was also embarrassing. If he wants a race seat in 2012, he needs to make good on this.

      Probably wouldn’t go down too well with Helmut Marko!

      There is talk that Toro Rosso could be bought out by IPIC. Cepsa is an IPIC subsidiary, as are some of Toro Rosso’s other sponsors, Falcon Bank and Nova Chemicals. After Red Bull, IPIC is the company most involved in the team, which seems to lend weight to the stories that they might get bought out. If that happens, Marko won’t have any say in the matter – but even if it doesn’t, he’s smart enough to recognise that the Senna name allied to Red Bull has serious potential. Especially if Bruno’s pace in Belgium is genuine.

  4. So it’s money time for many of the small team.

    1. STR had very few sponsors at the start of the year. They certainly help the team grow, so it’s all for the best.

  5. AS have a mock-up of how the car will look for Monza. Aside from the rear wing, there are no significant changes – I’d be very surprised if we can see the Cepsa logo on the nose.

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