I wanted to test Andrew's journalistic investigative skills, so I asked "Why would a company want to sponsor F1? Do they really get a good return for their money?"

So his third article looks at what ING got out of F1 and why Super Aguri are having trouble finding a cash cow. 

Interesting stuff this F1 ... Mark.

In Need of a Partner  

With the right drivers and the right personnel already in place, all Super Aguri is missing is the right sponsor.

BY ANDREW LUU

Will the FIA allow customer cars this season? Will Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson continue with the team in 2008? For either of those questions to even exist, Super Aguri must first answer this: Who will be the main sponsor?

Without the financial backing of a major title sponsor the future of Super Aguri will continue to rest in the balance and as this goes to press it is a defining question that remains unanswered.

Finding the answer is difficult because Super Aguri is a small team at the tail-end of the grid. When you’re a Ferrari or a McLaren you can choose from a long line of deep pocket corporate friends.

Title sponsorship averages between $15 and $50 million US, though in the case of Marlboro and Ferrari, that figure reached an astounding $175 million according to F1 Racing Magazine. The reason companies like Marlboro are willing to spend so much is because of the international exposure that only Formula One can provide.

Only the Olympics and World Cup rival F1’s roughly 600 million viewers per year. With the F1 circus traveling through major markets all around the world into paddocks filled with Fortune 500 companies and top-ranked CEOs, paying the $50 million price of admission is done for just one reason: To make more money.

When financial giant ING Group, the tenth largest company in the world, decided increase its global brand awareness it bet on Formula One. ING signed with the Renault F1 team for what some experts estimate at $55 million per year.

ING didn’t just hope its investment would equate to more customers and higher brand recognition. A study was commissioned to prove it.

 Independent research firm Research International surveyed 16,000 people in 32 key markets for ING at the start of the F1 season, and again after the season finale in Brazil.

Out of a mixture of male and female respondents, F1 fans and non-F1 fans both with and without ING products, Research International found a:

• 7% increase in perception of being a leading and global financial      

   service firm

• 25% increase in positive perception of ING

• 29% increase in willingness to do business with ING within the

   next 12 months

At the end of the business day increased awareness and an improved image leads to more revenue down the road and that’s exactly ING’s aims in 2008.

But such returns on investment are most attractive and achievable with top teams like Renault because the camera follows the cars up front.

The cost of SS United’s logos found all over last season’s Super Aguri was an estimated $15 million per year. Chinese electronic firm Aigo, found on the cockpit sides of the McLaren MP4-22, cost roughly $20 million per annum.

The reality for Super Aguri is that it is a backmarker team and therefore is a less attractive investment. And any global corporation with money to spend on international exposure might feel its money is better spent at McLaren, Ferrari or BMW as a second or third string sponsor rather than as a title sponsor of a team that may not score even a single point. In business, success likes to align itself with success.

Secondly running a Formula One team is an extremely expensive venture. The former Midland F1 team estimated the cost of replacing and remaking parts and rebuilding a car at nearly $400,000. Then there’s a host of other expenses like transportation, testing, salaries and 18 grand prix weekends. In 2006 F1 Racing said Super Aguri spent $57 million.

While there might be several companies willing to pony up $15 million for prime real estate along side the Super Aguri name, it needs a longterm partner who’s willingness to spend matches the very real cost of running a racing team.

Money talks and B.S. walks. To find that elusive partner with a flair for productive conversation, Super Aguri is going to need a very dedicated pair of shoes.