Last Updated on January 22 2026, 9:48 am

Mercedes could be on the verge of securing one of the most lucrative sponsorship agreements in Formula 1 history. According to a Sky Sports report, the Brackley-based team is close to finalising a major partnership with the US tech giant. An official announcement is expected as early as this week, with the deal set to deliver a substantial financial boost.

If confirmed, the agreement would further strengthen Mercedes’ commercial position at a time when Formula 1 continues to enjoy unprecedented global growth.

 

 

Mega sponsorship in the making

Sky Sports reports that the Microsoft deal could be worth around 60 million US dollars per year for Mercedes. While the exact figures have not been officially confirmed, experts believe that, if true, the scale of the partnership would make it one of the biggest sponsorship contracts ever signed in Formula 1.

Such a deal would significantly increase Mercedes’ annual revenue and provide additional resources at a time when budget caps limit on-track spending, while leaving commercial income largely unrestricted. For a team aiming to return to championship-winning form, strong off-track partnerships are becoming increasingly important.

Microsoft has steadily expanded its presence in elite sports, and a partnership with Mercedes would be a significant move into the highest level of global motorsport.

 

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Formula 1’s commercial boom continues

The potential deal is another sign of Formula 1’s commercial resurgence under Liberty Media. Since the American company took over the sport, global viewership figures and television ratings have risen sharply, driven by expanded digital coverage, new markets, and a younger audience.

Consequently, Formula 1 has become an increasingly attractive prospect for major multinational companies. Several technology firms are already deeply involved in the sport. Google, for instance, has partnered with McLaren since 2022, extending the collaboration in November last year. Oracle’s title sponsorship of Red Bull Racing is another high-profile example.

If Mercedes adds Microsoft to its list of partners, this would further demonstrate the sport’s growing appeal beyond traditional automotive sponsors.

 

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Wolff strengthens strategic ties

Mercedes has also made headlines recently due to changes in ownership. In November, team principal and shareholder Toto Wolff sold 15 per cent of his shares in his investment firm to George Kurtz, the founder and CEO of long-time Mercedes sponsor CrowdStrike.

According to the BBC, Mercedes is currently valued at around six billion US dollars, meaning Wolff is expected to earn approximately 300 million dollars from the transaction. Kurtz is set to join the team’s strategy committee as a technical advisor alongside Wolff, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, and Ineos CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Ineos already owns a third of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, which further highlights the strong industrial backing behind the operation.

 

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Full circle with Microsoft link

The potential arrival of Microsoft as a top sponsor would neatly connect existing relationships within the Mercedes ecosystem. Last summer, Microsoft and CrowdStrike announced a strategic collaboration, strengthening the relationship between two technology partners that are already associated with the team.

If the deal is confirmed, Mercedes will secure a significant financial boost and reinforce its position as one of the most commercially powerful teams on the Formula 1 grid.

 

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NEXT ARTICLE – Red Bull push back at Audi ‘cheating’ accusations

The FIA have hastily arranged a meeting of the Formula One powertrain manufacturers for Thursday January 22nd. This follows complaints formally made to the sport’s governing body that Red Bull and Mercedes may have designed their power units with clever heat expanding components.

Within the all new 2026 technical regulations there is a requirement that each power unit’s internal combustion engine must have a compression ratio which does not exceed 16.1, however suspicions have surfaced that Red Bull and Mercedes are delivering a higher rate due to components which expand when hot.

The FIA’s test for the rate of compression is delivered with the car stationary and at ambient temperature which of course would not account for any changes in the compression rate when the car is operating at extreme temperatures when on track.

 

Audi demand FIA action

Audi’s technical director, James Key – speaking at the Autosport business forum in London, has insisted his team will not accept a compromise which allows Mercedes and Red Bull to continue with their design, although the FIA restated its position regarding the way the compression checks will be performed.

“We have to, as we do, trust the FIA with making the right decisions here,” he said at the Audi team’s launch this week. “It’s new regs. You’ve got to have a level playing field. If someone came up with a clever diffuser and you said it’s not the right thing to do, no one else can have it, but you can have it for the rest of the year. It doesn’t make sense. We’d never accept that.”

Key’s reference to the double diffuser relates back to the F1 2009 season when Williams, Brawn and Toyota arrived pre-season with a clever double diffuser which exploited a grey area in the FIA’s chassis specifications.

This created a furore in the paddock with McLaren and Ferrari arguing to continue to allow the double diffuser was a politically motivated decision to hurt the chances of the Scuderia and the Woking based McLaren team. Yet the double diffuser remained and Adrian Newey at Red Bull set about designing a version of the double diffuser which saw the team roar back into contention later…CONTINUE THIS STORY