Qatar Airways will become the main airline sponsor of Formula 1 starting this season, the carrier announced, replacing regional rival Emirates as the sport's official airline.
The sponsorship announcement comes ahead of the 2023 season, which kicks off next month and will also see Qatar begin a 10-year run as host of a Grand Prix, to be held in October.
The state-owned carrier will become F1 title sponsor of that race -- now known as the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix -- along with Grands Prix in Hungary and Emilia Romagna in Italy.
The airline's press release did not mention how much the sponsorship deal was worth or any other specifics.
Qatar Airways adds F1 to a list of global sports sponsorships, which include world soccer's governing body FIFA and soccer clubs Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain.
Dubai-based Emirates was F1's main airline sponsor for the last decade.
Sports Business report on their website late last year that F1 was lining up a new airline sponsor after renewal discussions with Emirates broke down over the asking price, with F1 understood to be asking for around twice the original amount of close to $25-million per year of the current cycle from 2018 to 2022.
Reports suggest that Qatar Airways accepted the fee that F1 was asking, around $46-million per annum for a decade, further investing in the top flight after years of witnessing Bahrain, UAE and Saudi pave the way before the gas-rich kingdom caught on; now theyare playing catch-up fast.
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