NFT rides shotgun when Red Bull Racing ends the F1 season

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology firms continue to feature in the world of Formula 1, with a non-fungible token (NFT) making its mark on Red Bull Racing’s vehicle to close out the 2022 calendar.

Red Bull Racing dominated the F1 season, topping the constructors’ standings, while Max Verstappen closed out the drivers’ standings for the second consecutive season. With the 2022 race schedule up in Abu Dhabi on November 20, the team’s cars will have an NFT on the livery in what is being called an F1 first.

Red Bull Racing entered into an agreement with cryptocurrency exchange ByBit as a main team partner in February 2022, one of a handful of cryptocurrency firms sponsoring teams in Formula 1. The exchange’s logo will appear alongside Lei the Lightning Azuki, an NFT artwork and character from anime-inspired Azuki- collection.

The original Lei Azuki NFT is one of 10,000 NFTs from the collection. #8494 is currently listed on OpenSea and is valued at around 9 Wrapped Ether (wETH), or $11,100 at the time of writing.

Related: Merchandise & Perfume: Formula 1 trademark filing paves way for F1 NFTs

Red Bull Racing’s Lei the Lightning Azuki will be a limited edition #8494 and is set to be minted on the Tezos blockchain and available through ByBit’s NFT marketplace.

A statement from Red Bulls Racing’s team principal, Christian Horner, highlighted the ongoing exploration of Web3 use cases through the partnership in the world of sports

“In many ways, it has been an eye-opener for us to the enormous possibilities that Web3 has to offer. This unique project is the perfect combination of creativity, innovation and passion that matches our ethos on the pitch.”

The sport of Formula 1 has been a big proponent of the cryptocurrency space. Crypto.com signed a major sponsorship deal in June 2021 as its official cryptocurrency and NFT partner. Fan token blockchain platform Chiliz has also partnered with a handful of F1 teams over the past two years.

McLaren became the first team to carry out a ‘livery takeover’ with its main sponsor OKX in 2022. Cointelegraph had an exclusive interview with Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo about the partnership at Token2049 in Singapore in October 2022.

Formula 1 also filed a series of trademark applications in October 2022 that suggest the organization wants to take full control of the intellectual property in the broader cryptocurrency space.