Continuing its acquisition of major sponsors, McLaren Racing has announced that semiconductor manufacturing company Onsemi will be an official partner of the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team.
The company will also hold prime sponsorship branding on Felix Rosenqvist’s car for a portion of next season.
Onsemi will be the title sponsor on the #6 entry for four races, and will hold minor branding locations on all of the team’s cars throughout the season.
Rosenqvist will have NTT Data on his car for many of the season’s remaining races, including the Indianapolis 500.
“We’re delighted that onsemi will be joining us to lead the identity of Felix’s race car in 2023,” said Matt Dennington, Executive Director of Partnerships at McLaren.
“This partnership is crucial to our team, with onsemi’s technology ingrained in the Arrow McLaren SP race cars.
“Like McLaren, onsemi is determined to make a positive impact beyond its sector, making this a transformational union of brands both on and off the racetrack. We look forward to a successful partnership and joining forces in pursuit of the IndyCar championship together.”
McLaren utilizes Onsemi components in its steering wheels and other critical components, and is planning to use the partnership to help make the most of the upcoming switch to hybrid powertrains.
McLaren has been efficiently expanding its IndyCar operations since joining the series just a few years ago, grabbing high-profile engineers, drivers, and sponsors to become one of the top competing teams on the grid.
Part of the team’s efficiency comes naturally due to the team’s long-time presence in Formula 1. Many of the resources and lessons learned on the world stage have been quickly applied to efforts in the American-based series.
I wonder what brands like Onsemi actually gain from supplying motorsport sponsorship, especially Indycar which virtually no one watches. Tax break of some sort? It’s not like you can go to Walmart and buy an Onsemi product as they make specialized components for OEMs, who would never find the company through sponsorship plastered on a race car. Arrow is kind of in the same boat, as are a ton of other McLaren sponsors in both Indycar and F1 — Brown is very good at finding sponsors that 99.9% of fans would never need.