Ron Dennis Is the Steve Jobs of Formula 1, Here Is His Commercial Playbook
Ask anyone to name a visionary leader, Steve Jobs is never far from top-of-mind.
Far fewer, perhaps no one outside of Formula 1, would associate Ron Dennis with such a question, presuming they have even heard of him.
Nevertheless, I find Ron Dennis absolutely fascinating and his contributions to modern motorsport absolutely stand up to Jobs’s contributions to the tech industry.
Ron Dennis had a vision for how F1 teams could be better, and make no mistake, despite his unique ways (at the time) of approaching team management, his approach earned results.
The 7 Strategic Tensions That Could Define (or Derail…) Formula 1’s Future
Formula 1 is thriving, but it’s not infallible, nothing ever is.
Beneath the glitz of sold-out grands prix and viral TikToks lies a series of high-stakes contradictions, between innovation and regulation, prestige and pop culture, stability and spectacle.
Liberty Media has masterfully laid the foundation for F1’s business model and built on it, but that success now rests on balancing forces that pull in opposite directions:
The Concorde Agreement can lock teams in, but not manufacturers’ faith.
Expansion can fuel growth, but also burnout.
Fan engagement can surge…until scripted PR kills the magic.
F1’s long-term relevance will depend not on avoiding these tensions, but on mastering them. The game isn’t just winning races, it’s sustaining a global platform where culture, commerce, and competition collide.
The Hidden Cost of F1 Sponsorship: How Delivery Strain Threatens Performance and Profitability
Hidden costs in sponsorship delivery don’t just erode margins, they create a compounding financial trap for F1 teams.
Here’s how it plays out:
Imagine a $50 million Title or Principal sponsorship.
Poorly controlled activations, inflated logistics, or unmanaged resource drain quietly strip away 5% of the deal's value, that’s $2.5 million in lost contribution margin (over what could reasonably be expected to delight your client)
To plug that gap, what do teams teams have to do?
Chase more sponsorship revenue!
But here’s the problem:
Every new sponsor introduces its own obligations: more events, appearances, travel, and content production
More partners = more complexity, more operational overhead, more strain on personnel and performance
Those costs compress margins again, repeating the cycle
The Blueprint For Funding the Juncos Hollinger Racing IndyCar Team: How to Find the Right Investor
When most people think of funding a race team, they think of sponsor logos on rear wings and energy drink decals on helmets.
But what Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) needs right now is different, and more complex.
According to Racer.com, team co-owner Brad Hollinger is looking for additional investment to secure the long-term future of a team he’s already stabilized once by stepping in with his own capital when others wouldn’t.
But this isn’t about landing a blockbuster sponsorship deal, in other words the traditional motorsport playbook.
Hollinger is pursuing something fewer teams attempt, but which carries far greater potential impact: bringing in an equity partner, someone to co-own, and therefore help chart JHR’s long-term competitive trajectory.