Ferrari’s 2022 season rather petered out towards the end of the year, as Red Bull’s development of the RB-18, combined with the Scuderia’s strategic blunders, saw the team fall some way short of the eventual champions.
The team showed that when they get it all right, they are more than capable of winning races and challenging for championships in this new era of Formula 1.
With this in mind, Ferrari have decided to bolster their brand in 2023 and announce a number of new team partners ahead of the new season.
Earlier this week, the team announced that they had partnered with US software company Genesys before then announcing only a day later that they have also joined forces with Harman Automotive.
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As a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, the forming of a partnership with the company would help Ferrari improve their customers experiences with anything and everything Ferrari.
Ferrari CEO Benedetti Vigna released a statement on the partnership, suggesting that Harman Automotive would see in in-cabin experience of a Ferrari improve greatly.
“Our partnership brings together two brands celebrated for excellence and for pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation,” he said.
“We look forward to working with Harman to extend our in-cabin experience advantage and deliver to our customers a drive like no other.”
Despite being over the moon with their new partnership, Ferrari have now bizarrely recalled their announcement of the deal with Harman Automotive, as a leaked email from the Ferrari press office has asked to backtrack on the message.
“FERRARI PRESS OFFICE would like to recall the message, ‘Scuderia Ferrari news | The team announces Harman Automotive as a new Team Partner,” read the leaked email.
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With Ferrari often being mocked in 2022 for their sometimes shambolic decision making, the last thing that the team would have wanted would be for a sponsorship blunder to have to be recalled.
It is not yet clear why Ferrari may want to recall the announcement, but is rumoured that the message was released to early rather than either side pulling out of the deal.
It is hoped that either party will clarify the situation in the coming days.