Microsoft clicks on Formula One grid with new Mercedes deal

Microsoft, the $3.4trn computing behemoth, will this week unveil a partnership with the Mercedes Formula One team that will underline the sport's resurgent appeal among the world's biggest technology companies.

Sky News understands that Microsoft will be announced as a major sponsor of the Brackley-based outfit when it unveils its 2026 car livery and design at an event on Thursday. One sponsorship expert estimated that the deal could be worth in the region of $60m-a-year, adding that if that figure was accurate, it would rank among F1's biggest individual team sponsorship agreements.

Money blog: Inflation rises again - here's what it could mean for you The deal will make Microsoft the latest tech company to sign a big commercial agreement in F1, with rivals such as Google already having a presence through a partnership with McLaren Racing, the reigning world champions. The sport has enjoyed commercial success in recent years under the ownership of Liberty Media, with race attendances, TV audiences and its global fanbase all growing to varying degrees.

This week's announcement will come soon after Toto Wolff, the Mercedes F1 chief executive and team principal, sold a 15% stake in the outfit to George Kurtz, the American billionaire who runs cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Last year, CrowdStrike and Microsoft announced an alliance aimed at identifying the protagonists behind cyber threats.

The team's stake sale was reported to have valued it at over £4.6bn, a record for the sport. That is despite the fact that Mercedes remains without an F1 constructors' title since 2021.

This year, its cars will continue to be driven by Briton George Russell and Kimi Antonelli of Italy. It emerged this week that John Owen - designer of Mercedes' F1 cars during its period of dominance between 2014 and 2021, when it won the team championship for eight consecutive years - would step down during the course of 2026.

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