Formula One wants to be more like Man United

Plenty of companies have been eager to associate themselves with Formula One, the world’s most popular racing series.

The McLaren Honda team has 26 corporate backers. Scuderia Ferrari has 28, including a Thai brewery, a Spanish bank, a Russian cyber security firm and a different Italian automaker. The competition’s new US owners would like some sponsors, too.

When billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media — who also owns TV3 and Virgin Media here — bought Formula One for $8bn (€7bn) in January, it acquired a global audience of 400m — but just five corporate deals of the kind that enrich other sports around the world. Much of that is down to the way it was run by its longtime former supremo Bernie Ecclestone.