Infiniti Announces Sebastian Vettel as Global Brand Ambassador

Infiniti, the luxury car manufacturer from Japan, today announces it has signed Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel as its first ever Global Brand Ambassador.

The collaboration with Sebastian Vettel comes two months after Infiniti announced a major partnership with the Red Bull Racing team. The 23 year-old F1 star will be taking an active role in raising the profile of the Infiniti brand and its products during race weekends and at selected events linked to Infiniti’s business and product programs.

From the start of the 2011 Formula One season, Infiniti has joined as a major partner of the Red Bull Racing team and features prominently on the race-winning RB7 driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Like many in the Red Bull Racing team, Sebastian has been driving products from the Infiniti range, both as his personal car but also at the different races around the world.

Commenting on his new global role, Sebastian Vettel said: “Since our first contact with Infiniti I liked their cars. A car can impress you in two ways: its looks and its handling. After I had the chance to test some cars in the range I became a big fan. They are comfortable as well as sporty when you ask for it. I am sure we as a team and myself can benefit a lot from the experience of Infiniti and I am very much looking forward to our partnership in the future.”

Simon Sproule, CVP Global Marketing Communications, Nissan Motor Company added: “Red Bull Racing have demonstrated over the course of their short history in F1 that they are a great challenger brand, unafraid of taking their own approach to creating a winning team. 

At the core of this emergence has been the inspired performance of Sebastian Vettel. As we developed the partnership with the team, so it was a natural progression to also work more closely with Sebastian and today we formally welcome him to the Infiniti team”

SingTel's 2011 Formula One Sponsorship Press Conference

On Tuesday 22nd of March, SingTel, the main sponsor of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, organized a press conference to let us in on the new and exciting upcoming features that come along 2011's race.

The brains behind this year's amazing F1 entertainment.

With the aim of making the Formula One experience more than just a race to attend to, SingTel is introducing a series of "firsts" under the tag line of "Fast is Amazing", which will bring the racing spirit everywhere in Singapore thanks to F1 simulators challenges, but also other types of "races" centered around Singapore's daily activities, such as the fastest durian eater, the fastest SMS typer and eight other "disciplines". These contests' winning results will then be submitted for the Guinness World Records with the aim of making Singapore the Fastest Nation on Earth.

"During this Formula One season, we want Singaporeans to feel the race action both on and off the track," said SingTel's CEO Singapore, Mr Allen Lew.

The activities and contests organized by SingTel will take place around Singapore, every race week ends, which will see the races broadcasting live via SingTel's mio TV at selected Kopitiam, Harry's bars, and shopping malls, in full HD and for a first in Singapore, in 3D. Celebrities will also be joining the live screenings and join the "Fast is Amazing" campaign by creating their personal records along with the audience.

SingTel will also be putting us, spectators, in the driver's seat with six in-car cameras that will be mounted on six different cars, giving us the opportunity to see the race from the driver's point of view.

The races can be seen live on three ESPN STAR Sports channels exclusive to SingTel:

Mio TV chennel 115, the online ESPN player and Mobile ESPN on mobile phones and devices.

For F1 Die Hards and all racing enthusiasts in Singapore, SingTel will be touring the island with custom built F1 race simulators, built with a technology similar as the ones used by the professional F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to train, which allow you to race on the Singapore GP track, feel the bumps in the road, the acceleration and braking of the F1 car you will be driving. Everyone is encouraged to sign up and try to post their best timing to win a replica of the Singapore F1 GP trophy!

To make things even more exiting, SingTel will be organizing a 24 hours Simulator Race where the 40 top timers on the simulator will be pitted around the clock in eight teams of five. The winning team will be declared Singapore's fastest team, be rewarded free tickets to the race and the chance to meet one of the F1 drivers and even compete against him on the simulator!

In addition to all this, SingTel, in association with Singapore Motor Sports Association, is preparing Singapore's next generation of racing talent by sponsoring 30 students to learn and practice the fundamentals of racing with go-karts, and build a solid base for a future professional racing career and represent Singapore in motorsports events across the globe in years to come.

SingTel will be keeping a close watch on 12 to 15 years old contestants during the F1 simulator tryouts that will tour the island during the F1 season and select the top 30 of them to be eligible for the sponsorship. SingTel will offer a free Go-Karting track day to the three top ranking students and their schools.

Of course, racing is but one part of the sport, and having a good physical endurance is a key element in the victory of drivers, so SingTel will be sponsoring this year's Tri-Factor Triathlon, a sports event that combines swimming, biking, running and triathlon.

As if it wasn't enough, SingTel is also launching an interactive smart phone app, which gives the latest F1 news, team information, events calendar, but also find and support the candidates who take part in the "races" around Singapore.

All of these features are also on SingTel's brand new interactive online portal at www.singtel.com/f1, where users can also vote for their favourite SingTel Grid Girls, who will be shortlisted and selected by local celebrities.

Last but no least, SingTel will also be introducing the Formula One Fantasy game on the online portal, which gives everyone the opportunity to build and manage his or her own F1 racing team and come up with winning strategies to dominate other racing teams.

Well, dear readers, if some of you were complaining about not having enough presents, SingTel is here this year with enough goodies to satisfy even the most demanding ones of us! Make sure to check out the portal at www.singtel.com/f1 to enjoy the most of this new experience!

Special thanks to Shane, Robin and all the team at Ogilvy PR Worldwide for your support!