Sauber investigation begins after Stake sponsorship
A quiet F1 off-season sprung into life at the beginning of February.
The first week started off with F1 rejecting Andretti’s bid to be an eleventh team followed shortly by an abrupt and shock announcement that Lewis Hamilton would be joining Ferrari in 2025.
Still recovering from the two huge stories which sent the motorsports world into a frenzy, another piece of news then dropped regarding the new rebranded Sauber team.
As Alfa Romeo bid farewell to F1 at the end of 2023, Sauber announced that they’d be teaming up with Stake for the next two years.
Stake is an online crypto casino which provides access to online gaming services like betting, slot games, and lotteries.
Crypto has been a huge phenomenon and has started integrating more with the sports world. Logos can be seen in basketball and football, for example. However, in recent years, it has grown in recognisability and ended up on several F1 cars – Red Bull and McLaren with two of the most notable crypto tie-ups.
Stake partnered up with Sauber at the start of 2023 with appearances on the car at a couple of races.
For 2024, however, Stake is going to become much more involved with the team – the first sighting of this was with Sauber’s new name, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.
However, Sauber won’t be running with this name the entire duration of the season. In select countries where gambling promotion is banned, the team will instead opt to be called Kick F1.
The revealing of the team’s livery included Kick’s signature green and prominent logos of both companies throughout.
However, a day later it was announced by Swiss broadcaster SFR that legal proceedings have been taken against Sauber and its partnership with Stake.com.
Like many countries, there are laws put in place to prohibit or decrease the exposure of gambling. Switzerland (where Sauber’s base is located) has specific laws when it comes to the promotion of foreign advertisements.
Though promotion of gambling isn’t fully banned, there are processes companies have to go through to make sure their work is legal.
A company who is looking to reside and promote must apply for a Swiss license – which Stake didn’t do.
This has caused the Federal Casino Commission to open proceedings against the team due to Stake being unlicensed. After investigation, if found guilty, Sauber could be facing a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss franc.
The worrying news doesn’t seem to phase either Sauber or Stake. Sauber sent out a statement regarding the proceedings reiterating they have been compliant to regulations and will continue to do so:
“Sauber Motorsport AG have always complied and continue to comply with all existing regulations, both Swiss and of whichever country we race in,” Sauber stated.
“The report of an ongoing investigation by the Swiss Authorities does not concern us: this is a procedure that will highlight our compliance with all applicable regulations.”
Stake echoed these thoughts in their own statement.
It’s still uncertain when the verdict of the investigation will come out, but both teams believe they have no reason to be concerned.
Featured image credit: Sauber
