The Stake F1 Team branding under which Sauber launched its entry for the 2024 Formula 1 season will not be used at every round of the world championship due to gambling laws.
The team previously known as Alfa Romeo has lost the backing of the car manufacturer this year, ahead of the arrival of Audi as its new engine supplier from the 2026 season.The Sauber Group has agreed a branding deal with sponsor Stake, under which the team has appeared on the official FIA F1 entry list for 2024 as Stake F1 Team. Its chassis is called a ‘Kick Sauber’, referring to another brand which shares ownership with Stake.
As the Stake gambling brand cannot be promoted in some territories, Sauber will use a different name at those rounds. Stake was also a title sponsor of Alfa Romeo last year, and was replaced by ‘Kick’ in the team’s official title at rounds where it could not appear.
The situation also arose last year. The team was entered as ‘Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake’ for the opening rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, then became ‘Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick’ for the Australian Grand Prix, and continued to change between different territories. Without ‘Alfa Romeo’ in the team’s name this year, the distinction between ‘Stake F1 Team’ and its as-yet-unannounced alternative is likely to be more noticeable.
“We were Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake in certain countries and Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick [elsewhere],” team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi told media including RaceFans at the team’s launch in London today.
“We will have also this year two different team names according to the different countries where we are going to race in order to comply with applicable local laws. Where Stake is prohibited because there are restrictions on gambling advertising we will use Kick within our team name.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“As you know Kick is also our chassis naming rights partner because our chassis is Kick Sauber. So we will have a second team name that we are going to present soon. Of course, we know that there are countries where we cannot display the Stake brand.”
Sauber revealed a striking new green livery to accompany its change of name this year. However as it will become Audi’s works team in 2026, it is likely to prove short-lived.
However Alunni Bravi said the team needed to make a clear break from its previous branding. “For us it was important after six years with Alfa Romeo to really establish a new team identity,” he said. “Before the Audi era it was important to present ourself with this new identity.
“Of course it’s [also] important for a team like us to have commercial partnerships in place. So we take advantage of this opportunity to have a such a big partner like Stake joining us like Kick to create this new team identity.”
He denied the team had ignored its heritage branding, Sauber, which it entered F1 as in 1993. “Sauber Group is in Formula 1 for 32 years, but this doesn’t mean that we forgot what Sauber is,” he said.
“This means that for these two seasons we want to have this continuity and we want to create a new team identity that can also help us to attract a new audience, to reach a new audience, to expand our fan base, to present ourselves as new.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 1
- “You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP
- F1 CEO Domenicali wants more than six sprint races per year
- Hulkenberg named Audi’s first F1 driver for 2026
- Ricciardo needs to show “head-turning form” for 2025 chance – Horner
- F1 Commission defers decision on points change and approves new rear cameras
bosyber (@bosyber)
5th February 2024, 20:53
It’s feels pretty silly to have an official name that can’t be used everywhere. Then again, one might cynically think it provides an opportunity for a tiny bit of publicity for the mark every time they have to switch, and then back again.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
6th February 2024, 20:36
Williams was in the same situation when they were sponsored by martini.
The Abbinator (@abbinator)
11th February 2024, 14:09
Remember Ferrari and Marborough?
An Sionnach
5th February 2024, 22:05
Steak F1 Team
Jungle
6th February 2024, 6:44
Well done!
DaveW (@dmw)
5th February 2024, 22:11
Chassis naming rights? No other team has yet realized how to monetize the name of the chassis so well done to them. But how about the drivers change their names as well. Kick 1 and Kick 2. Can we get a brand jingle played on the podium instead of an anthem or just a 90 second commercial?
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
7th February 2024, 14:58
@dmw This would prove somewhat complicated. This is because the FIA requires the drivers to use the name in the passport of whichever nationality they wish to use for competition purposes (and has done for over a decade).
If Stake had a Chinese and (for example) a British driver*, it would be at least theoretically possible to ask them to rename themselves to “Kick” (neither could use the number, but there is nothing to prevent the Chinese driver using the Chinese translation of Kick and the British driver using the English version).
However, Stake has a Finnish driver. Finland prohibits free choice of name. Finnish names have to be on an approved list or (if not on that list) compatible with Finnish naming practices. These specifically do not include names that are non-Nordic, unless the child has at least one non-Finnish parent (in which case, names from their heritage culture(s) are potentially – not automatically – acceptable). They also do not include words in a format used for objects rather than names (“Table” and “Teflon” are given as specific examples of banned names, although “Laser” is permitted, possibly due to the ending being theoretically possible for a Finnish first name, itself only possible due to Laser being a loanword used in both English and Finnish. Kick is definitely not in the Finnish language).
Other countries where drivers probably wouldn’t be able to follow this idea include:
Germany (name of a product in this context)
Italy (“kick” would likely be deemed too ridiculous)
Denmark (not an approved name, probably too much like a surname to get added to the “approved” list)
Saudi Arabia (Western name, unclear if using an Arabic transliteration would get around the restriction)
Canada (name being sought for possibly improper purpose, though this would be dependent on a committee’s case-by-case definition of “improper”).
Malaysia (name associated with gambling in this context. Bonus: the Malaysian ban on being named after equipment would also rule out a Malaysian driver renaming themselves to “Stake”).
* – China and Britain are similarly strict about naming laws – both prevent names that include numbers, special characters or anything that a computer keyboard designed for the country’s native language couldn’t produce without resorting to the Unicode Alt+[number] system. The British system also bars names that are inherently embarrassing. Neither bans brand names
Since Kick is not a recognised nationality, it could not change the podium music – this would have to remain the national anthem of the country on each driver’s passport.
Dex
5th February 2024, 22:39
It’s Sauber for me. I’m not paid to promote sponsors, I get to call them by their real name. I’m also not in the mood to fool around with silly things like this. As for the anti-gambling laws, I can only say bravo!
Jay
6th February 2024, 5:43
Same with stadium naming. I’m never calling a stadium ‘The Center’. They get most people to play along but I’ll never play that game. Same goes with circuits. It’s still A1 Ring to me, damn it. And if A1 is a sponsor of some sort, I don’t wanna know.
Jay
6th February 2024, 5:45
That was supposed to be ‘The -sponsor name- Center’. Comment section doesn’t like less-than or greater-than symbols.
MichaelN
6th February 2024, 8:37
No, it’s not like that. A1 Telekom is not an Austrian company and they did not finance the new layout.
SteveM
6th February 2024, 10:27
Did you still call them Sauber while they were Alfa Romeo?
Postreader
5th February 2024, 22:43
Well, I love steak, how could I complain?
Tristan
6th February 2024, 0:10
Non-existent news, who did not already know this. Another article when they announce the “new” name as Kick (which was already announced would be used when the team was formed)
Stake is a bitcoin casino with links to illegal gambling and the underworld that goes along with it. Kick is a streaming platform that advertises unregulated gambling to children.
Just so people know.
BasCB (@bascb)
6th February 2024, 7:02
Yeah, not excited for those at all. I am glad that over here advertising for gambling is illegal.
An Sionnach
6th February 2024, 15:04
I tried to find out more about what you have said. The closest I could find is that Stake can be accessed in countries where gambling is illegal through VPN. Kick isn’t as tightly moderated as other platforms and allows gambling streams. I don’t expect there to be broad agreement as to what is considered harmful in the era of The Salem Witch Trials Online. Certainly some things, but the balance between moderation and freedom to publish will always be a difficult balance even if you are trying to find it!
I don’t gamble or like it, but your claims look like mud-slinging to me. They could be absolutely true, but since we can all launch character attacks without proof, I consider proof essential.
Pete
6th February 2024, 1:13
It’s irrelevant. They’ll be called Sauber everywhere. The commentators aren’t going to call them different things depending on the local laws and most will just follow what they call them.
Same as RB – no-one is going to call them Visa App or whatever just like no-one calls Haas “Moneygram Haas.”
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
6th February 2024, 9:54
… cough … Minardi … :)
Jere (@jerejj)
6th February 2024, 5:47
I wonder which particular countries ban Stake-advertising.
Dean Gadsby
6th February 2024, 14:38
It’s still Sauber whatever it is and I will still refer to it as Sauber.